Arts & Entertainment

Basking Ridge Filmmaker To Screen Great Oak Documentary, Host Q&A

Michael Reynolds' documentary chronicles the life and end of the 600-year-old oak tree that stood at the center of town.

Keiling Tree Care cut down the tree in April 2017.
Keiling Tree Care cut down the tree in April 2017. (Alexis Tarrazi/Patch)

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — A screening for "Under The Great Oak," a documentary about Basking Ridge's historic great oak tree, will be held on Oct. 11.

The feature-length documentary about the 600-year-old oak tree completed by township local and screenwriter Michael Reynolds will screen at the Bernards Township Library followed by a Q&A session.

The free screening will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Program Rooms A & B at 32 South Maple Avenue in Basking Ridge.

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The film, completed in 2019, celebrates the life of the Great Oak tree which stood on the grounds of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church.

The tree was possibly the oldest white oak tree in the country and was taken down on April 24, 2017, after it died over the summer in 2016 despite efforts of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church to preserve it.

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Reynolds lives 500 yards away from where the tree stood and could see it from his window. A bit of an environmentalist and a member of the Somerset Hills Historical Society, Reynolds wanted to create something to memorialize the great white oak. Thus came the film.

To learn more about the movie visit www.GreatOakMovie.com or facebook.com/underthegreatoak.


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