Photo by Matt Sullivan
When fifth grader Donna Dresser brought home a maple tree seedling to parents Bill and Marilyn and big sister Carol back in April 1970, none of them imagined that it would grow to provide their favorite place for backyard shade during the next 35 years. The tree, an Arbor Day gift from Newark’s Dawes Arboretum, flourished at 7 Sheppard Place adjacent to Denison, where Bill Dresser ‘51 joined the communication faculty in 1960 and Marilyn worked in the Admissions Office. Donna graduated from Denison in 1981 and Bill retired in 1993, ten years prior to his death.
The devastating ice storm that struck central Ohio two days before Christmas last year showed no mercy as it moved through Granville, and among its victims was that special maple tree on the Dresser property. With some advice from Biology Professor Juliana Mulroy, Denison students Peter Iverson ‘06 and Chris Dougherty ‘05 took cuttings from the felled tree, rooted them and placed them in the temperate greenhouse in Samson Talbot Hall to await their spring budding. Marilyn plans to share the new seedlings with both Donna and Carol so that three families will continue to enjoy the maple tree and its welcome shade for many years to come.