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TIMBER! Tree hits car, flim flam at 11?

By George Pelletier - Milford Bureau Chief | Oct 6, 2019

If a purported, city-owned tree falls on your car, does it make a sound at City Hall?

Last Wednesday night, I was driving up the hill on East Dunstable Road when suddenly a dead tree fell, narrowly missing my hood, but hitting the ground and then bouncing back up into the front and under carriage of my car.

It was a pretty nice evening and by chance I had my sun roof open. A couple of feet difference, and I would have probably taken a tree limb to the head. Not that anybody who knows my personality would be able to tell the difference.

I have a dash cam, which caught the action, along with video of my walking in front of the car, examining the car and swearing my head off. With all the wild hand gesturing, I look like a frustrated Italian chef grousing about burning his prized beef cannelloni.

To get back to the original question, apparently that thud of the tree hitting my car does make a sound at City Hall.

After the tree fell and I had checked out the car, I pulled it over to the side of the road and removed the tree from blocking the road. I also grabbed the large chunks of debris and scuttled them out of the road so other cars wouldn’t get damaged.

It was a heavy piece of wood, but to give you a comparison, I probably looked like Paul Bunyan picking up toothpicks.

Passing motorists were incredibly kind, slowing down to ask if I was okay, and also to inquire if I had already called the police.

I did, as some of them did as well and shortly, Nashua Police officer Turner arrived and asked a few questions to ensure I was alright and explain the best way to proceed.

I called my insurance company and as the tree hit me, and not me hitting it, my comprehensive policy would cover the damage but there is still the $250 deductible.

I called City Hall in Nashua on Friday (Wednesday after the incident, I called my insurance company and had an appointment for Thursday morning to bring my car in and get a rental).

Natch, I started at the top and called the mayor’s office. I know that’s like calling Mattel because your Barbie is having a bad hair day but you get the gist.

Plus, since I know Jim, I figured he’d cut me a check on the spot.

I exaggerate. I just thought they’d know how to direct me, which they did.

I spoke to someone at DPW and was slightly bounced around before speaking with someone at risk. They weren’t harming themselves, mind you – it was the risk department, to clarify.

They were nice and helpful. I don’t know if all will end well, but since the tree was outside of a side-walked area on East Dunstable, it would appear that the tree was on city property.

They say you can’t fight city hall, but I am a believer that you can play nice with it.

Various people from different Nashua city hall offices reached out to me in the course of one day. Very helpful folks who were looking into my issue. I appreciate that.

My approach with local government has always been to be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the moment.

I remember one story of a student’s car being crushed by a tree, which actually started with her car being struck by a limb of that tree. While removing the branch, the tree people (the ones taking the branch away, not actual tree dwellers), caused the entire tree to come down on the kid’s car.

An eye-witness turned out to be the real star of the show.

“It sounded like a beer can getting flattened. It was just ‘crunch’ I hate to say it, but it was kind of cool, you know?”

(All I could picture was John Belushi’s Bluto squashing a beer can into his head in “Animal House.”

The witness added, “What guy doesn’t like destruction. That’s why we go to demolition derbies, but hey, the bottom line is that’s the poor girl’s car under there and now she can’t get to school.”

(I don’t quite get demolition derbies. Why trash a perfectly good car? It’s like sky-diving. I am not about to jump out of a perfectly good plane.)

Getting back to city hall: I appreciate their looking into my “timber!” incident. Plus, I always remember, that if you bring drama to the table, don’t be surprised if everyone gets up and leaves.

George Pelletier may be reached at

gpelletier@nashuatelegraph.com.

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