lynn, can't help other than to advise you post on the Trees Forum. Also perhaps should take a pic to your county extension agent.

Lynn, I have bad, bad news for you. Your tree is infested with borer beetles. You need to definitely contact the extension service -- and sadly, probably plan to have the tree taken down. We had this happen to a big old oak in our yard. Paid several hundred dollars to have the tree treated to try to kill the beetles, but ended up losing the tree. These are bad critters.

The little "sticks" are the powdered wood that the beetles push out of the holes they are boring into the tree. They are laying eggs and there will be more and more generations of the insects as time goes on.

The arborist told us that the beetles often go after older trees that have been stressed by other problems, like drought. But they will migrate to other trees in the neighborhood.

I hope this information is helpful, but sorry it is such dismal news. If you can catch a beetle, you might put it in a little ziploc baggie and take it to the extension office for ID. There are some species that I think UGA keeps track of -- really bad ones, like ambrosia beetles.

Anyway... good luck to you! :(