Damaged Tree Carved Into Will Rogers Likeness

Wednesday, December 19th 2007, 6:00 am

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ A chain saw sculptor has taken a bent and broken tree in front of Will Rogers Elementary School in McAlester and turned it into a likeness of Will Rogers. An ice storm in January left the tree so damaged it appeared to be destined for a firewood pile but schoolchildren raised about a quarter of the nearly $2,000 cost to have Clayton Cross create the sculpture.

The rest of the money was donated by the Parent-Teacher Association, First National Bank & Trust, Arvest Bank, BancFirst and The Bank N.A.

The 4-foot-tall carving shows the legendary Oklahoma native known for his rope tricks wearing a cowboy hat and holding a coiled lasso in his left hand.