Earlier this month, Pleasanton lost a piece of history. Located in Lions Wayside Park, across the street from the Meadowlark Dairy, the over 100ft tall eucalyptus tree was removed. 

As a result of a fungus infection found on the tree, it was ultimately decided to remove the tree from the park for safety reasons. However, this did not hold back many protestors from trying to prevent the removal.

Certain individuals considered protesting the tree’s removal by going so far as to spend the night in the about 150 year old eucalyptus. It is clear that many people were upset about the removal of the tree. Special connections and childhood memories make the tree’s goodbye even harder. 

“I was really sad to see the tree taken down. I used to play at that park all the time as a kid”, said Justin Hunter(‘21). 

Some have a neutral stance on the situation, agreeing that both removing the tree or preserving the tree benefited the situation in different ways.

“I feel like maybe they should have at least tried to preserve it, but at the same time, if it was suffering it was probably a good idea for them to remove it completely”, said Grace Lozano(‘23).

Though it is sad to see it leave, the tree was diagnosed with an incurable fungus that became a safety hazard according to the city of Pleasanton. The city did not want the tree to become a liability and a danger to the townspeople.

“We would rather have the tree stay but, unfortunately with this fungus, that’s incurable. We can’t save the tree and we don’t want branches falling onto the public,” said Cindy Chin, Pleasanton’s City spokeswoman.

While it may have been dangerous to preserve the historic landmark, Lion’s Wayside Park feels somewhat empty without it. And although the eucalyptus is gone, it will remain in the hearts of the citizens of Pleasanton.