Turtles Soak Up Sun On Storm-Damaged Tree In Yardley

YARDLEY, PA —The storm rolled in on Monday and brought buckets of rain.

And then it did something that a prior storm had done before. It snapped a beloved sycamore tree with limbs falling right into Lake Afton.

But something sunny came out of a soggy situation.

The turtles in Lake Afton found themselves a new place to soak up the sun.

"Turtle haven today on the fallen sycamore tree in Lake Afton," said Michelle Sharer, president of the Friends of Lake Afton. "Lots of turtles will be sunning themselves until the tree is taken out of the lake."

Sharer is making those plans, contacting Anthony Primola with Alpine Tree Specialists about removing the sycamore tree.

She said Alpine Tree Specialists have done this work before at the popular pond.

"They removed the giant sycamore that we had fall into Lake Afton a few years ago during a storm," Sharer said.

That tree was more than 250 years old.

"It was a huge tree and difficult to remove from the water because it sank into the mud/muck," she added.

Primola said he needs different equipment for this tree because it's in a really tough place to reach.

"He's calling around to get the right equipment. Then he'll have to figure out where he can put the equipment into the lake" Sharer said. "Sycamore trees are very heavy."

Until then, the turtles will enjoy their time.

(Susan Taylor, Yardley Historical Association)