Minneapolis Couple Have 'The Lorax' Sculpture From Red Oak Tree

CBS Local - Beth Goodpaster and Richard Duncan, of south Minneapolis, were devastated to find that the red oak tree in their front yard was rotting and needed to be removed. When they called, begrudgingly, get it chopped down, they had another thought: let's make it into a sculpture. They decided on the likeness of The Lorax, a famous Dr. Suess' character.

The premise of "The Lorax", for those who need reminding, is that the titular character comes from a tree chopped down, a "Truffula" in the book. The Lorax warns those cutting down the Truffalas, to make room for an environmentally hazardous factory, that the world will be destroyed "unless" Truffalas are replanted. Goodpaster and Duncan had "unless" carved into their tree sculpture.

"It was going to have to come down, because it was a hazard," Goodpaster says, via City Pages. "We were very sad to lose the shade… One of the things we liked about this neighborhood is all the gorgeous old trees."

Goodpaster found a chainsaw artist, Curtis Ingvoldstad, who's based locally in Minnesota, and contacted him to see if he could do it.

"I called him out of the blue," Goodpaster says. "I saw his website and saw amazing things he had done. I felt a little silly asking him to do something as simple as a Lorax."

Ingvoldstad, of course, agreed and the tree sculpture is gaining some notoriety. People will stop and take pictures, and even pass along positive messages to Goodpaster and Duncan.

"It's bringing some joy, so we are happy about that," Goodpaster says.