Talk about a family tree with plenty of spreading branches.
The black walnut that towers over Ralph and Corky Trieger’s property in Antioch long has sheltered relatives during family picnics.
Now it has won an award in Lake County’s seventh annual “Big Tree Contest,” sponsored by the Soil and Water Conservation District.
The contest is meant to promote tree plantings and celebrate the beauty of large maples, ash and other trees that grace the local landscape.
This year, the contest was aimed at finding the county’s largest black walnut.
“It’s a beautiful tree,” said Joanne True, the district’s executive director. “When you drive along Grass Lake Road around that curve, you know it’s there. It’s like a beacon.”
Standing in front of the Trieger farmhouse, the tree is 152.5 inches in circumference. No one has measured its height, but the Triegers estimate it’s at least four stories tall.
Corky Trieger has photos of family gatherings near the tree dating to the 1910s.
The tree is a favorite with local residents, who wait for the walnuts to drop in the fall.
“When they come down, we put signs on the road that say, `Free walnuts,’ and hope people stop by and take them. Otherwise we have way too many,” Corky Trieger said.
Occasionally, someone suggests cutting down the tree for its valuable dark-brown wood. But that would be sacrilege to the Triegers.
“We’ve got pictures of four generations sitting in front of this tree,” Trieger said. “You’d never take a tree like that down. Besides, it’s more fun to see how much bigger it can get.”
