With permission, The Beacon is archiving past issues of Matthews News and Record (also called The Record and The Matthews Record) articles online. Throwback Thursday articles will include relevant content still facing Matthews today. This article was originally published June 11, 2009.

A Living Legacy by Janet Denk

The Town of Matthews Appearance and Tree Commission is a program to enhance and protect our town’s tree canopy, and in doing so the town is looking for detailed information about the town’s big trees.

The committee is asking citizens of Matthews to participate in nominating, inventorying, and mapping trees for the Living Legacy Tree Program. This will allow the town to identify and recognize the largest, rarest, oldest and prettiest of trees of various species in Matthews.

All you have to do to nominate a tree for the Living Legacy Tree Program is Pick up a form and fill out the information listed. You will also need to measure the circumference of the tree at 4 1/2 feet up from the ground with a flexible tape measure.

Once your nomination is received, you will be contacted by someone who will come to your location and measure the tree’s girth, height and crown spread. This information will then be recorded in an inventory with other trees nominated. This inventory will supplement the inventory the town currently has of public trees within the Town limits.