You've probably passed Josiah's Gnome Tree on Chambers Road. Here's why it's there
PINCKNEY — On a scenic stretch of Chambers Road, just after a bend, a tree is growing on an incline with its roots exposed. In its roots are dozens of gnome figurines. A sign on the trunk marks it as Josiah’s Gnome Tree.
Josiah Moore, a 15-year-old Howell resident, was diagnosed with juvenile Huntington’s Disease in 2018. According to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, the genetic disease deteriorates the brain, causing changes in personality and mood, forgetfulness and impaired judgment, involuntary movements, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing and weight loss.
HD is usually diagnosed in adults aged 30-50, but the disease can occur in children and teenagers. HD is rare, according to HDSA. There are about 41,000 symptomatic people in the U.S. and more than 200,000 at risk of inheriting the disease.
Juvenile HD is more aggressive. While an adult diagnosed with the disease can live 10-25 years after onset, children and teens often die within a decade.
Huntington’s is passed down from parent to child. Someone whose parent had the disease has a 50/50 chance of inheriting it. That's what happened to Josiah.
“His father died Dec. 30, 2021, from Huntington's Disease,” said his mother, Danielle Moore. “It's an awful disease. It's a brain eating disease. So eventually, the things that you know, you won't know anymore.”
Soon after his diagnosis, Josiah and his grandmother, Georgetta Marnell of Pinckney, were driving a golf cart to a local alpaca farm. They'd spent the morning yard sale-ing, which is when Josiah found a small gnome figurine. When they passed the tree on Chambers Road, Josiah said it'd be a perfect place for the gnome to live.
He and Marnell placed it between the roots. Afterward, the family continued to leave figurines. The tree was noticed by others, who began leaving gnome figures themselves, as well as notes expressing their love for the concept.
Josiah enjoys seeing the additions to the tree.
"It makes me feel happy," he said.
“We love it," Marnell said. "We come out here about every two weeks to clean it up and check to see if there’s new ones. Like Josiah said, it looks like a place where gnomes would live. There’s so many nooks and crannies.”
Danielle added a laminated letter to the tree, explaining why they'd begun leaving gnomes there and educating people about HD.
“There’s no cure,” Danielle said. “There’s only 40,000 cases in the whole United States, and only 10 percent of that is juvenile. Without awareness, there will never be a cure. So, that’s basically what (the gnome tree) is — to help raise awareness, so that maybe in his lifetime there will be a cure.”
Danielle has saved the notes left under the tree, including her favorite, where the writer said they'd made a donation to HDSA in Josiah’s honor.
The family is involved in the HDSA Michigan Chapter, in addition to their own efforts to spread awareness. They hope people continue to grow the population of the gnome tree and learn about HD.
Subscribe: Get all your breaking news and unlimited access to our local coverage
“Huntington’s Disease is something so rare that a lot of people have never heard of it,” Danielle said. “And so the more people that stop and see the tree and do something, leave something special, then go home and research ... that's just more awareness for hopefully a cure.”
The tree sits on Chambers Road between Swarthout and E. Schafer near Triple Diamonds Alpaca Ranch.
— Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @tess_journalist.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: You've probably passed Josiah's Gnome Tree on Chambers Road. Here's why it's there
