VINTON - 14 years ago today, on July 11, 2011, a devastating derecho, with a straight line wind in excess of 110 mph, blew through Vinton, damaging many of the town’s century old trees. Carved out of that loss, by local artist Brian Parr, is a legacy that the Vinton Public Library hopes to preserve. A beautiful, old ginkgo tree that stood in front of the library for decades, was one of the stumps Parr transformed into a work of art, along with many others all over town.
Parr carved a stack of books into the ginkgo stump, and one of the book titles in the pile is “Gone With the Wind.” According to an April 27, 2012 Cedar Valley Times article, written by then News Editor Molly Wade, the suggestion to include the title as “a reference to the tree’s fate” came from Tammy Hepker of Vinton. In the Spring of 2024, VPL Director Kelly Henkle, and other members of the library board decided to move the tree statue inside the library, where it can be preserved.
Henkle said it became necessary to move the statue as it had become unstable outside. Several people helped make the statue move possible, and also helped create a safe place inside the library for it to be displayed. Parr’s masterpiece is now nestled behind a protective pane of glass just inside the ground level door on the north side of the library.
BoWood Company helped build the display case and donated some of the materials. Mark Phippen, who applied the original coat of sealant in 2012 when the statue was creat.
