The high winds this past weekend were the cause of many downed trees and power lines across Northeast Ohio, including a very special tree to the community in Tuscarawas County.
A Norwegian Pine tree, called “The Tree of Everlasting Life” was split in half due to the high winds and rain over the weekend, said Tammi Shrum at the Zoar Historical Village.
The tree sits in the center of the village’s Garden of Happiness, which was created and planted by the Zoarites in 1939. According to Ohio History Central, the Zoarites were a small group of German religious separatists who settled in Tuscarawas County in the early 1800s.
The garden is laid out in a design to represent New Jerusalem as in the Book of Revelation, Shrum said. The “Everlasting Tree of Life” represents Jesus Christ and there are 12 surrounding trees planted to represent his apostles.
Shrum, the Site Director, explained the symbolism of the Gardens design: “You can take any path in the garden and you will still reach the center, you will still reach that tree, so metaphorically all paths lead to heaven.”
Plans are already in the works for a new tree to be put in its place, although the operation costs still need to be worked out, Shrum said.
“And then we also have to decide if we're going to do a tree that's 10 to 15 foot or try to do something a little bit larger, because this tree was probably close to 70 feet. And people are used to seeing this really large tree in the center of the garden” Shrum said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help support the renewal of the “Everlasting Tree of Life”
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