Today in History: Oct. 23, 2002 - The old oak tree

Today in History revisits the Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002, edition of the Grand Forks Herald and highlights a story of a Mayville family learning they have set a record for having the largest bur oak tree in North Dakota, and perhaps, one of the oldest, estimating it may be around 400 years old. The old oak tree ■ Nelson family sets state record By Lisa Davis Herald Staff Writer MAYVILLE, N.D. — Bernhard Nelson just set a North Dakota record, though many people probably didn't know the record, much less the contest, existed. Nelson won first place for the size of the bur oak tree at his farm here. His son, Levon Nelson, entered the tree in the big tree contest run by the North Dakota Forest Service in Bottineau, N.D. "Just on the spur of the moment one day, I called Bottineau," he said. "I asked how big the biggest oak tree was." A Forest Service official told him the current champion was at the Harwood Rest Area, just a half-hour south of Mayville. Recogn