The remnants of Hurricane Helene recently uprooted a beloved pecan tree on our Salem campus, revealing memories that stretch back more than six decades.
For years, our Salem, Virginia campus has been home to countless children, adults, pecan trees, and, inevitably, squirrels. While the people and squirrels have come and gone, one pecan tree stood resilient—until this September.
On Friday, September 27, the remnants of Hurricane Helene swept through Southwest Virginia and our campus felt its impact. The mighty winds uprooted a pecan tree that stood proudly in front of, what used to be, Carpenter School located next to Kessee Chapel. One alum who spent two years there recalls this tree vividly; in fact, it inspired his long-lasting nickname Squirrel.
Jackie Dee Cunningham arrived at HopeTree Family Services (known as the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home at the time) in 1959 with three of his siblings. The last time he lived with his mother was in 1951 when he was just three years old. “I was really, really hurt,” Jackie recalls. “I ran away several times, but I finally realized I wasn’t running toward a home. If I had one, I wouldn’t have been sent away.”
Shortly after his arrival, Jackie noticed oval-shaped objects falling from the towering tree and covering the ground in front of his new, temporary home. Curious, he asked around and learned that these objects were actually pecan nuts.
“I had never seen anything like it,” Jackie recalls. “I’d seen walnuts before, but this was the first time I’d ever heard of a pecan.” He quickly discovered he could eat these newfound treats, and he indulged.
“I went ballistic and ate all I could find,” Jackie said. He began gathering, cracking, and storing the nuts in whatever he could, ultimately filling shoe boxes and jars tucked under his bed. But soon, Jackie faced a common dilemma: other children wanted his tasty treats, and he wasn’t quite ready to embrace the saying, “sharing is caring.” To protect his precious pecans, he began hiding them.
“I had to move my pecans outside,” Jackie recalls. “I put them in bushes and hedgerows, but they remained safe in containers.” His efforts didn’t go unnoticed, ultimately leading to his new nickname, Squirrel. “It was a unanimous choice based on my behavior. One day, someone said, ‘you’re just like a squirrel,’” Jackie remembers.
The nickname stuck and to this day, Jackie receives letters from HopeTree Family Services addressed to Squirrel. “It’s a name of endearment, and I’ve always thought of it as a special title from the years I spent at the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home.”
During his time at the Home, the large tree that provided delicious snacks right outside Jackie’s window became a refuge and a way to connect with other students and staff. The few times he had guests or visited an adult’s home, he would offer them the only gift he had pecans.
“I enjoyed the fact that I was doing something constructive for my own enjoyment as well as other people’s enjoyment,” Jackie said. “That tree was like a friend to be honest.”
After Helene’s destruction, HopeTree Family Services saved a section of Jackie’s beloved tree and gifted it to him. He plans to have his wife, an artist, paint a picture of a squirrel and a pecan on the wood to forever celebrate his time in Salem.
Jackie’s love for pecans and his connection to this organization have endured for the past sixty years. While the tree that helped him make this campus a home no longer stands, the memories and connections it fostered remind us that hope is everlasting.
