By Scott Sullivan
Editor
There will be no tying yellow ribbons around Cook Park’s old willow tree now that all but its stump is gone.
Saugatuck Department of Public Works Supervisor Scott Herbert told city council Monday leveling of the 150-year-old icon, partially felled Nov. 1 by a windstorm abetted by carpenter ant infestation, had been completed.
Bur, as in Shel Silverstein’s tale “The Giving Tree,” the willow is still sharing.
“All the resulting wood has been stored at Public Works,” Herbert said, noting residents had voiced interest in using the material for woodworking and other projects.
“The DPW plans on working with those individuals and the Parks and Public Works Committee on the best way to distribute the wood,” he said.
Interested? Email Herbert at scott@saugatuckcity.com or call city hall at (269) 857-2603 to get a message to him.
The Saugatuck-Douglas Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and Saugatuck Center for the Arts plan a temporary on-site installation/commemoration of the old willow from next November through March 2026. More on that one later.
