Actions of some cause pain for many

by Nathan Boddy

Less than two dozen yards from a main trail in Hamilton’s River Park is a willow tree so spectacular that passers by just need to reach out and touch it. Known by many locals as, ‘The Mother Tree,’ its twisting branches and sheltering greenery have captivated the imaginations of hundreds of children and adults. Not only does its trunk lean at an inviting angle for adventurous climbers, but several large branches have sprawled across the ground giving opportunity for balancing acts and stick forts.

Perhaps aided by the tree’s distance from the manicured regions of the park, combined with the misdirected acts of disrespectful youth, the tree loved by so many has again been the target of vandalism. For the second time in a year, the tree has been tagged with spray paint, vile messages and imagery. While the occurrence in 2021 was unsightly, the more recent event has added substantially more insult to the city’s park. Crude and vulgar drawings, combined with Nazi symbols and the mark of ‘MS13,’  have not only stained a small corner of the park, but will once again require costly time and effort of city staff.

Amy Fox, Director of Parks and Urban Forestry for the City of Hamilton, says that she struggles to know which approach to take with the tree.  “I know how much people love climbing that tree,” she says, but points out that the branch most recently targeted is, in fact dead.  She has considered that perhaps the most cost effective way to remove the vandalism would be the complete removal of the branch.  In 2021, when the last vandalism of the tree occurred, city crews ended up using a grinder to remove the markings. This time, however, the coverage of the paint is far more complete.

Removal of even part of the tree would be hard to swallow for many area residents. Dulcie Belanger, who spent years escorting little children into the park in her role as a teacher at Evergreen Kids Corner, says that she sees the importance of that particular tree in a wholly different manner than just a place to play.

“Kids get there and they immediately want to climb it,” she says, describing how often she’d watch kids challenge themselves to crawl out onto the limb and away from the security of the trunk. “They would feel a bit nervous, but they would want to continue and they would want to challenge themselves. It was just a really beautiful way to see children exercise their own independence and growing that ability to trust themselves. That really resonated a lot with me.”

Dulcie recently shared her concern with 3rd grader, Olive Weinberger, whose response typifies the way many people feel about the tree. “I love the Mother Tree. I have made many memories there. She is an important part of my life and it makes me sad that people are hurting her.”

Dulcie’s husband, Paul Belanger, points out how important access to natural play areas is for the development of children, including their own, for whom the tree, “offered endless opportunities for play.” He is certain that some creative solution can be found that would, “be a win/win for the kids, as well as safety and security, but still maintain its character for natural play.”

While heart wrenching to see, the vandalism deep within River Park is not the only way vandals are damaging the public good. Even within the last week, Amy Fox has had to deal with vandalism at Claudia Driscoll Park, the bathrooms at River Park, and even at the pump track near the baseball fields. Broken bottles, overturned benches, and smashed paper towel holders all compete for Fox’s attention along with the other duties of her position.

“That all comes out of our budget,” she says, pointing out that the last person who was tasked with cleaning the vandalized bathrooms at River Park spent an hour and a half doing so. While cleaning and repairing bathrooms has only one obvious recourse, vandalism deep within the natural region of the park requires a tough decision. As far as removing the dead and vandalized portion of the tree, Fox says that she hasn’t settled on any course of action yet, but would love suggestions. Nonetheless, they are issues that detract her and city staff from other pressing issues.

Says Fox, “It’s frustrating because we’ve got to move our resources to this now.”