AUBURN, Ala. — A steady stream of people began to arrive early Saturday morning to mourn the poisoning of oak trees at Toomer’s Corner, where Auburn fans have long celebrated wins.
The heartfelt demonstration continued into the afternoon.
Fans took pictures and left gifts and tributes, including rolls of toilet paper that surrounded the two 130-year-old oaks on the fringes of campus.
The rally reflected the depth of pain and frustration engulfing this small community.
“Toomer’s Tree Hug” was about proud tradition. It was about college football — two things residents in this state are rabidly, unapologetically passionate about.
And it was an Alabama fan — Harvey Updyke Jr., 62 — who apparently let his passion spiral out of control. Updyke has been charged with first-degree criminal mischief for allegedly using a tree-destroying herbicide to poison the oaks after Auburn beat the Crimson Tide in November. He was released from the Lee County Detention Facility on bond Friday.
The heinous act has put the special rivalry in the national spotlight, even in the offseason.
In this state you’re either an Alabama or Auburn fan — and declarations of neutrality can draw a disbelieving sneer.
Once a year everything nearly comes to a complete stop when Alabama and Auburn lock horns in the Iron Bowl. And after the game ends, people talk about it the rest of the year, oftentimes while sipping sweet tea and eating barbecue.
For generations of Auburn fans, Toomer’s Corner has been the spot to revel in those games.
It’s not a big place, basically a nondescript intersection of College and Magnolia streets separating campus and downtown a quick walk from Jordan-Hare Stadium. But the strip of land with the stately trees is considered sacred ground.
Retired Auburn athletic director David Housel tried to put its significance in terms people outside Southeastern Conference country can understand.
“In New York, Times Square is considered the crossroads of the world,” Housel said. “In our world, Toomer’s Corner is the crossroads of Auburn.”
But this ugly act seems to have momentarily united the divided camps in Alabama. One crimson-and-white group has started raising money for replacements for the oaks.
Auburn coach Gene Chizik and Alabama’s Nick Saban — who have split the last two national football titles — even issued a joint statement saying this was “an isolated incident by one individual that is not representative of what the greatest rivalry in college football is all about.”
