Outdoors

What happened to the shoe tree?

Shoe tree

In April, for the first time in a while, I went by the location of the shoe trees near Kinmount, Ont., and noticed they were gone. Can you find out what happened, and why?—Hugh Doggett, Diamond Lake, Ont.

The shoe trees didn’t just get up and walk away on their own. They were cut down in the fall of 2011, by the City of Kawartha Lakes’ Public Works Department. What began as a single tree had morphed over the years into four trees, plus a hydro pole. According to city officials, the trees were dying, and the collection was becoming a safety hazard. Goodbye, shoe trees! May all those old soles rest in peace…