Cut-up tree in Medina yard turned into big display to cheer on the Buffalo Bills

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Sherry Tuohey of Elm Street in Medina arranges tree stumps in her yard to send a message to the Buffalo Bills. The ash tree serves as a canvass for her art work cheering on the Buffalo Bills.

When the village of Medina cut down this ash tree in Sherry Tuohey’s yard on Elm Street, they left this 10-foot stump, along with some cut-up chunks on the ground, so she decided to decorate them and support the Bills.

MEDINA – Sherry Tuohey really isn’t a diehard football fan, but when the Buffalo Bills are playing, she’s watching the game.

Recently, the village of Medina cut down a dead ash tree in her yard on Elm Street and left a 10-foot trunk standing along with 10 large chunks of wood. She looked at them for a few days and then decided she had to do something with them.

She went to the hardware store and bought paint. She brought out her ladder and paint brush, and climbing up the trunk, she started painting “Go Bills” down its length with red paint. Problem is, she didn’t calculate her lettering right, and ended up running out of room at the bottom for the letter “S” in Bills.

So she put her creative hat on and decided to use all the smaller chunks and spell out “‘Bill’ieve.”

First, she found a roll of newspaper print in her basement, on which she drew free hand the Bills’ buffalo logo from a picture on her cell phone. Then she transferred it to a piece of plastic to make a stencil and painted that on the largest chunk of wood. That took up the space where the “S” should have gone. An extra small chunk of wood was painted with a red heart.

She truly loves the Bills who are playing Sunday in the AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The winner goes to the Super Bowl.

Tuohey said when she finished painting she had red paint in her hair and on her sweatshirt, but it was worth it.

“With this pandemic, there’s nothing going on and I wanted to do something,” Tuohey said, eyeing her completed display. “I just had to stir up some excitement. I don’t claim to be artistic, but I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out.”

Tuohey said moving the heavy chunks of wood was a challenge and she had to attach rope around some of them to pull them into place.

Village workers have since come by and she asked them if they could put off removing the stumps until after Bills’ season is over – hopefully ending with the franchise first Super Bowl trophy.

The DPW said they would wait.

Tuohey lives on south end of Elm Street, on the east side of the road, and welcomes drive-bys.