Dick Schlatter still mourns his maple tree.

Four years after his short-term frustration led to a defining long-term decision, he looks at the stump where the maple once flourished and wonders even now why he did what he did.

"We all do it," he said. "We all make rash decisions. If I'd just waited 24 hours."

Schlatter recounts how that maple, the only tree in the backyard when he and his wife purchased their Battle Creek home in 1988, grew and flourished over the years.

"I built a privacy fence over the years," he said. "A little bit here, a little bit there. And the tree became the focal point of everything back there."

He also built a patio that eventually evolved into a three-season porch. He built a pond, too.

But as the years went by, the maple's falling leaves and seed pod "helicopters" choked the gutters of his house, piled up on the roof and overtook the pond.

"Four years ago, the seed pods covered the roof and I'd have to go up there with a garbage bag and clean them up," Schlatter said. "That 's when I said, 'That's it, I'm cutting it down.' "

The next day, he called a tree service and the maple was gone.

"As soon as it happened I knew it was a mistake," he said. "I left the house when it was coming down and the stump was there. I just sat there and thought about what I'd done. I realized how much the tree gave me. It provided habitat for birds and the color in the fall. It provided shade. I could have had someone come out and clean my gutters. I just didn't think it through."

Schlatter has now taken that regret and grief and turned it into a children's book that he hopes will teach young readers that there are consequences for actions taken and that no one is too young to learn the importance of loyalty and respect.

The book is called "The Old Man and the Tree" and is written and illustrated by Schlatter, the result of a conversation he had with his then 6-year-old granddaughter Addison.

One day in the backyard of his Battle Creek home, Schlatter was pushing Addison on the swing when she remarked that the big maple she had known was gone.

He then made up a story about an old man, who was tired of the mess the tree was leaving, made a decision he could not take back. He called it "The Old Man and the Tree" and Addison would want to be regaled with the tale every time she visited.

That gave Schlatter an idea. He went into his study and started writing the story, drawing in pencil the images he wanted to accompany his book.

The book finally took shape and was published last year by SDP Publishing in Massachusetts.

But Schlatter had even bigger plans for the book.

He took copies to his grandchildren's elementary school in Grand Rapids last year, reading it to the kids, giving them a brief quiz about the importance of trees, providing each child with a copy of the book and then planting a tree on school property.

"These kids are smart," he said. "They know all about trees. But the real message is treating your friends with respect. It's a case of when you lose that friend, it's almost impossible to get them back."

He also said it's a lesson about taking ownership of the environment.

Schlatter has received received small grants from the Altrusa Club and the Binda Foundation to purchase books and has applied for grants from other foundations.

A fund called "The Old Man and Tree Book Project" has also been established at Schlatter's church, Chapel Hill United Methodist, for anyone who wants to donate.

"Every $5 donated buys a book," said Schlatter, who is donating his time for the project.

Schlatter has presentations set for Tuesday at Wattles Park Elementary School and Feb. 10 at Sonoma Elementary and is hoping to attract interest from other elementary schools in the Battle Creek area.

"I'd like to get that message out to Battle Creek," he said.


Read or Share this story: