He has to give way, but he doesn’t want to give way. The redwood tree of Jan Meester from Veenhuizen still stands proudly. Today attempt two to fell the tree was canceled due to strong winds.
The 95-year-old Meester planted the tree behind his house about forty years ago. The sequoia (also known as giant sequoia) grew like crazy. The tree has now reached the impressive length of 22 meters. The tree has now become somewhat crooked and Meester’s neighbors think it would be a better idea if it were no longer there. Meester therefore proposed using the tree as a Christmas tree on the Koopmansplein in Assen, but that plan fell apart at the beginning of December, because the experts present suspected that the tree was too heavy to move with a crane.
Today it was time for plan B. The tree needs to be sawn into pieces and cleaned up. But even now the giant sequoia did not move from its place. “The wind is blowing too hard,” says Frank Meester, Jan’s son. “It is not safe to cut the tree now.”
Master Junior secretly laughs a little about it. “It seems like the tree absolutely doesn’t want to go. We don’t know when a third attempt will be made.”
It remains to be seen whether three times is a charm. The green roof of Veenhuizen will remain a familiar sight for a while.