We're still waiting on the "Cassanova Crossing" in front of Chick-fil-A.

The City of Auburn has finally flipped the switch on its new crosswalk signs.

The two overhanging digital displays are the latest phase of Magnolia Ave. safety renovations started late last summer in response to increase in the number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians. One sign is located in front of the Lowder Business Building, the other at the crosswalk in front of Sky Bar.

The message? “Watch For Pedestrians.”

Photo by Alex Miller.

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As if Aubie wasn’t already cool enough…

The event was a publicity stunt of sorts for this weekend’s AU Dance Marathon, whose organizers definitely know a thing or two about choreography [watch it again for the first time].

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And if by chance (for the sake of conversation) the new Chipotle didn’t have the orgasmic grand opening it was hoping for, blame the Haley concourse taco truck that has students lining up as if for bowl tickets.

Eagle Eye News has the delicious scoop.

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What we know for sure is that it brought out the cameras. And, hallelujah, the one belonging to Cecil Bridges (’74) had some Kodachrome in it. And if there’s anything that can give you a feel of what rolling wires and lines and anything but trees come 2013 or whenever it is might be like, it’s these never before seen COLOR photos—the first we’ve ever seen, the only we know of—of real people* living just like we live: blue blue jeans, green green lights, blonde blondes, brunette brunettes, orange spray paint, taste the rainbow, kiss the dragon.

* And—sixth photo down—hipsters! Who knew the Quadrajets / Immortal Lee County Killers’ Chet Weise was a time traveler!

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BUCK FAMA: Black and white photos of Toomer’s being rolled after Punt, Bama, Punt.

More on the the Toomer’s oaks: Here’s what the type of tree that might replace Toomer’s Corner looks like / Wire system being considered as temporary solution for rolling Toomer’s / On the feasibility of a Toomer’s Corner transplant / Toomer’s Corner rollings didn’t start with Punt, Bama, Punt, says History / Did Auburn students celebrate Bear Bryant’s death by rolling Toomer’s Corner?

The Committee to Determine the Future of Rolling Toomer’s Corner studies a graph of the results of its December fan survey at its Jan. 17th meeting.

The recommendation that one or more large trees replace the Toomer’s Oaks, and for a temporary solution to be developed and implemented in order to continue the tradition of rolling Toomer’s Corner, was approved by Auburn University president Dr. Jay Gogue earlier this week.

The recommendation was delivered to Gogue by the Committee to Determine the Future of Rolling Toomer’s Corner after it met last Tuesday to discuss the results of its December survey of fan opinion on the matter.

“Dr. Gogue did approve the recommendation of the committee and we’re moving forward this week,” says Auburn University Communications Director Mike Clardy.

Or rather they’ll be moving forward if the Toomer’s Oaks do indeed die.

“As we’ve been saying all along, the next step is assessing the health of the current trees,” Clardy says.

Sadly, the assessment is still pretty grim.

During last Tuesday’s committee meeting, Toomer’s Task Force point person Dr. Gary Keever, an endowed professor in Auburn’s Department of Horticulture, expressed doubts that the oaks would live to see another football season. “I would not bet they’d be alive next fall,” Keever told the committee when asked to estimate the trees’ life expectancy.

But dead or alive, the Toomer’s Oaks will likely still be roll-able through the end of the year.

“Live oak wood is hard,” Keever said. “If you want to roll them, fine.”

“We’re not going to wait to spring to start planning,” Clardy says. “We’re already kicking around ideas of what to do once we determine whether the oaks are going to live or not. It’s all contingent on these two trees. If they die, we’ll move forward and try to find one or more large oaks to replace them.”

Clardy says a new committee will be tasked with the job of deciding how to remove and replace the Oaks, and with what species [this kind is probably the frontrunner].

There will also likely be a new committee to handle the other part of the recommendation, namely how to continue rolling the corner during the 3-5 years Keever and Co. estimate it will take for the new trees to be able to handle the stress of being rolled.

“That’s the other decision that has to be made,” Clardy says, “but there’s not a tremendous rush to sudddenly create something for the fall since the trees (Toomer’s Oaks) will still more than likely be good to roll.”

Clardy says the specifics of whatever possible structure might be built specifically to be rolled haven’t been discussed since the the Committee to Determine the Future of Rolling Toomer’s Corner’s last meeting. But according to committee member Jeff Ramsey, Director of Public Works for the City of Auburn, a system of wires is likely to receive the greatest consideration.

“We’ll probably have that discussion sometime this year,” Clardy says, “but a temporary structure wouldn’t really need to be in place until next year.”

“There are a lot of decisions that still need to be made.”

Eagle Eye News recently interviewed Clardy about the future of rolling Toomer’s. You can watch it here.

Related: On the feasibility of a Toomer’s tree transplant.

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Will it ever be removed? CAN it ever be removed?

Sure, Cam Newton left his footprints all over Auburn (and every one of them should be cast in gold), but one of the greatest testaments to his impact on “Tiger Country” is that the  “CAM” scrawled over the iconic “WAR EAGLE” on the holy wall near the entrance to J&M Bookstore at some point during the time when the Blessed Individual walked among us hasn’t been removed.

Yet.

Trey Johnston, J&M’s tiger of a proprietor, who for years has been responsible for the wall’s decor, tells us the wall typically gets a new paint job every five years.

“We’re going to paint over it and freshen it up over summer.”

But does that spell the end for the glorifying graffiti?

“Well, (the graffiti) might be something we play with some,” Johnston says. “It might be something like that that we incorporate when it gets down to the end of it, I don’t know.”

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The more things change? This photo of Toomer's being rolled in 1972 shows power lines covered in toilet paper, not the Toomer's Oaks.

It’s still Dr. Gogue’s call to make. He might still demand a permanent orange and blue replica of Disney’s Tree of Life (yes, the Tree of Life make it into one of the PowerPoint slides). But the recommendation he’ll receive this week from the Committee to Determine the Future of Rolling Toomer’s Corner will be for trees —real trees, large trees—to return to the corner to be rolled when they’re healthy enough, and for something man-made and temporary to come to the corner to be rolled until they are.

Maybe some wires or something. Maybe.

“Well, that’s one of the options we looked at earlier this year,” said Jeff Ramsey, the Director of Public Works for the City of Auburn, and a member the Committee to Determine the Future of Rolling Toomer’s Corner. “We were actually looking at a temporary solution for this year. One of the ideas we looked at during that time frame was stringing some wires up between existing poles out there.”

But a structural analysis conducted last summer indicated that the poles wouldn’t be up to the task. Ramsey anticipates today’s decision will give whatever new group Dr. Gogue might charge with the task of developing and implementing a temporary solution enough to time to make sure it’s the right one.

“Now we have time to develop an idea, a year and a half to maybe put in new poles with wires, but there also might be a better idea. Some sort of structure at the corner tied into the street lights, or an arch.”

Related: On the feasibility of a Toomer’s tree transplant.

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Remember when?

The Committee to Determine the Future of Rolling Toomer’s Corner signaled today that they’ll recommend a hybrid solution to Auburn University President Dr.  Jay Gogue: replanting large trees at Toomer’s Corner that can be rolled when they’re healthy enough, coming up with a temporary way to roll the corner until they are.

That decision closely follows the report the committee published today detailing the results of last December’s request for input from the community. After digesting those emails, committee chair Dr. Debbie Shaw’s report concluded:

“An overwhelming amount of individuals stated in their comments that what was most important to them was to have something to roll soon/immediately … Thus it seems to be that the path forward should be a combination of a structure and replanting large trees.”

But whatever system is put in place to continue rollings at the corner—a system of wires has been considered—won’t be permanent. It also might not be implemented until sometime next year; the committee is hopeful that the Toomer’s Oaks will still be able to be rolled through 2012.

Shaw, also vice president for alumni affairs, told The War Eagle Reader that a replanting plan means it will be several years before new trees would be a part of the traditional toilet paper atmosphere.

“Let’s say we replant large trees. It’ll still take 3-5 fives for roots to be established in the soil,” said Shaw.  ”Then of course obviously a small tree or seedling, it’d be years until there were large enough to roll. The reason [replanting] can’t be the only answer is that it doesn’t solve the charge of the committee which is really all about the future of rolling the corner. I don’t think any of us want to wait five to seven years to roll.”

That’s where the idea of some temporary, yet undefined, solution comes into the committee’s thinking.

The committee reported they received 1,232 email responses from their December request for input. Participants were asked to respond to several choices:

Option 1: Replant small oak trees in the same location as the current trees, which eventually will grow large enough for future generations to roll.

Option 2:  Replant one or two very large oak trees, which could be rolled within a few years of the roots taking hold.

Option 3:  Move the rolling tradition to the intersection of Toomer’s Corner (its original location) by building a professionally-designed, permanent structure conducive to rolling, which would become part of the village atmosphere downtown.

Option 4: Design an artificial tree or sculpture to replace the current oaks as a permanent option.

Option 5: Combine any of the above options.

The breakdown of the response:

The replies that came to the committee on how the university should move forward with Toomer's Corner.

Horticulture professor Dr. Gary Keever, also a member of the committee, suggested planting a different species than the non-native live oak.

“There are far superior trees that would be better in that situation,” said Keever.

Auburn Mayor Bill Ham, Jr. made the motion to replant and use a temporary solution. The committee’s vote sends the report to Gogue.

Related: MORE photos of Toomer’s being rolled in 1972.

More on the the Toomer’s oaks: On the feasibility of a Toomer’s Corner transplant / Toomer’s Corner rollings didn’t start with Punt, Bama, Punt, says History / Did Auburn students celebrate Bear Bryant’s death by rolling Toomer’s Corner?

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From the AU Dance Marathon website: “The Auburn University Dance Marathon is a year-long campus wide fundraising effort that benefits Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The fundraising effort culminates in a 12-hour Dance Marathon celebrating the monies rasied for this incredible charity.”

The beneficent boogie’ing begins Feb. 3.

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A photo of Auburn University's main gate from the 1929 Glomerata. Neither of the two large trees between the gate and the streets is a live oak.

The tree in the center of the 1899 photo of Toomer’s Corner framed and hanging in the offices of Auburn fans across the state is not one of the iconic Toomer’s Oaks, recent research conducted by an independent group of Auburn fans revealed.

That photo, as well a 2007 article published in Auburn Magazine, had been used to date the trees age to be approximately 130 years old.

A recent study of old photos housed in the Auburn University archives suggests that the two cherished live oaks are actually around 75 years old.

This 1937 photo shows that the two large trees found in the 1929 photo had been removed. The Toomer's Oaks had not yet been planted.

Though large trees have lined the College St. and Magnolia Ave. boundaries of Auburn’s campus since the late 1800s, a photo taken by an Auburn freshman in 1937 shows that the Toomer’s Oaks had not yet been planted. A photo in the 1929 Glomerata shows two large trees at the campus’ main entrance, but according to Dr. Gary Keever, an endowed professor in Auburn’s Department of Horticulture and point person for the Toomer’s Task Force, neither tree is a live oak.

The first photo found showing what is believed to be the Toomer’s Oaks is of a January 4, 1938  celebration of Auburn’s 1938 Orange Bowl win over Michigan State on New Year’s Day. (A print of the photo is actually on display in Toomer’s Drugs.) The size of the trees—both are approximately 8 to 12 feet tall—indicate that they would only have been 6 to 10 years old at the time.

That would likely place their planting in 1937.

The orange arrow in this 1938 photo featured in "Auburn: A Pictorial History of the Loveliest Village" points to one of the Toomer's Oaks, which was just 8-12 feet tall at the time.

Though the new estimate slightly dents the historical significance of the oaks (and possibly the likely apocryphal “ticker tape” theory on the origins of the rolling tradition), the emotional impact of the trees’ poisoning could, in a sense, increase as their pre-Spike life expectancy would have been much longer.

A recently released report on the findings shows a chronological progression of the oaks’ growth and can be downloaded from the university’s Toomer’s Oaks update page.

Related: Harvey Updyke’s attorney values Toomer’s Oaks at only $20

More on the the Toomer’s oaks: On the feasibility of a Toomer’s Corner transplant / Toomer’s Corner rollings didn’t start with Punt, Bama, Punt, says History / Did Auburn students celebrate Bear Bryant’s death by rolling Toomer’s Corner?

It takes more than 200 hours each month to produce, edit, and maintain The War Eagle Reader. If you like what we do, and you’d like to help TWER keep the lights on and the obsession with Auburn lore unhealthy through winter, please consider making a small donation or advertising with us.

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