The Live Oaks at Toomer's Corner in Auburn, AL
Posted by: 
TKDenizen
N 32° 36.376 W 085° 28.931
16S E 642421 N 3608655
No one quite remembers when it started but rolling the oaks at Toomer's Corner after a win has been a tradition for generations. However, a fan for a rival school decided it would be a good idea to poison the trees
Waymark Code: WMCRY4
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 10/08/2011
Views: 10
Here in my state, the big sports rivalry is Alabama and Auburn. The trees on Toomer's Corner in Auburn were poisoned by an Alabama fan for reasons that still aren't very clear. Sometime before 1-27-2011, Harvey Updyke applied Spike to the oaks. Spike is a systemic herbicide that is absorbed through the roots. He then called the Paul Finebaum sports talk show to brag about it. He also left some messages for a professor that were traced to him. Since then, the trees have lost a lot of their leaves. The new leaves are much smaller than a healthy live oak should have. Rather than the two to three inches that would be normal, they are a half to three quarters of an inch, the size of mistletoe leaves.
He has been in court many times and has been through several court appointed attorneys. There was a news story about him being attacked behind a gas station in Auburn, presumably to gain sympathy. He has been staying with family in Louisiana and his family has received death threats. He has apologised to the Bama fans but not to the Auburn fans.
Type of publication: Newspaper
When was the article reported?: 02/17/2011
Publication: The Birmingham News and AL.com
Article Url: [Web Link]
Is Registration Required?: no
How widespread was the article reported?: regional
News Category: Sports
|
Visit Instructions:
Give the date of your visit at the news location along with a description of what you learned or experienced.