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VILLAGE TIMES HERALD
S TO N Y B R O O K • O L D F I E L D • S T R O N G’S N E C K • S E TAU K E T • E A S T S E TAU K E T • S O U T H S E TAU K E T • P O Q U OT T • S TO N Y B R O O K U N I V E R S I T Y
Vol. 45, No. 23
July 30, 2020
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Protesters Stay the Course Rally organizers talk about the Black Lives Matter movement and why protests should continue
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Also: Review of Cursed, Libraries reopen on the North Shore, Weekly Calendar
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A stump along Old Town Road now features the faces of tree spirits. Photos by Christine Petrone
Tree Sages Appear on Old Town Road
BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM
Drivers along Old Town Road in Setauket have noticed a former tree stump has been transformed into an intricate sculpture. The homeowner said when a giant tree on her property lost a limb on the roadway, she realized the tree was being attacked by beetles and was hollowed in parts. She decided to have it cut down so it wouldn’t be
a danger to anyone. She said she originally wasn’t going to have it cut down so low and wanted it sculpted into a welcoming figure with its arms out. However, too much of the tree was hollow. It was then she had it cut down to a stump, and when she saw it was in good condition at the cut-off height, she decided to ask Richard Anderson, a retired art teacher who now enjoys a second career as a wood sculptor, to work on it.
He sculpted the stump using a chainsaw. The homeowner said at every point where there was a protrusion he created a character, and the men’s beards or women’s hair travel down to the roots. She said the sculpture is inspired by wood spirits of English folklore, and she was pleased with the expressions Anderson gave each of the figures on the stump. When it was completed, the homeowner decided to name the tree spirits on the wood sculpture The Sages.
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Moana Jr. Sets Sail in Smithtown