Upwards of a million trees of many types and all sizes stand throughout this town. It is easy to take them for granted and even overlook certain grand ones which have witnessed the sweep of time at their roots and helped shape the character of Sandisfield neighborhoods.

One of those was certainly The Big Willow that stood so long on Sandisfield Road in West New Boston, across the road from the former Silverbrook Cafe, "The Best Little Honkytonk West of the Clam River."

The willow may have been planted in the late-1800s by legendary local blacksmith, Levi King, whose long-time smithy at this spot was one of the last of its kind to operate in Sandisfield.

Its surviving stubs of limbs and branches succumbed to the Mighty Wind that we write about here. No one saw it fall or attended its last stand but all who saw it on its aside the morning of July 16 felt a personal loss.

Generations appreciated the natural beauty of Big Willow. And how many have taken advantage of its protective shade on a hot sunny day or stopped to rest or chat with neighbors? In our September 1981 photo of the Silverbrook Willow in its glory an unidentified couple pose on a circular bench that circled the tree. Do you know who they might be?

Source: "Memory Lane," by Ron Bernard, Sandisfield Times, November 2017.