Photo by Sarah Jones Decker
Combines Science, Scenery and Fun
By Natasha Anderson
The seventh Annual Chestnut Restoration Celebration will be held on Saturday, October 22, from 1–5 p.m. at the Glenn C. Price Research Farm in Meadowview, VA. The fundraiser, sponsored by the Southwest Virginia Branch of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), features farm tours, children’s activities, live music, raffle and door prizes, and food and drinks made with chestnuts. More than 200 attendees are expected at the event.
“Visitors typically include everyone from families who may not know much about chestnuts to older folks who helped harvest them before the blight hit,” says Dick Olson, volunteer for the Southwest Virginia Restoration Branch, TACF. “They have great stories of the trees and nuts.”
Attendees can learn about the impact of the blight, which hit during the first half of the 20th century and decimated an estimated four billion American chestnut trees. The trees had been a vital part of the eastern US ecosystem, producing high-quality, rot-resistant lumber, and feeding everything from bears and birds to communities and their livestock. Visitors will also hear about the benefits of restoration—including carbon sequestration, providing a food source for humans and wildlife, and use for timber products—and about the restoration project itself.
“The backcross breeding process used at Meadowview Research Farms continues to be an intensive and deliberate scientific endeavor to discover the genes responsible for blight resistance,” says Ruth Gregory Goodridge, director of communications, TACF Asheville. “The foundation is comprised of 16 state chapters from Maine to Georgia, and Meadowview is critical in our efforts to preserve the regional diversity of the American chestnut throughout its native range.”
TACF, founded in 1983, began a breeding process that produced the first potentially blight-resistant Americantype chestnut trees suitable for widespread testing. The foundation has almost 6,000 members and volunteers and more than 300 orchards located throughout the eastern US. The Glen C. Price Research Laboratory and Farm, which is home to TACF’s primary breeding orchards, has expanded along with the restoration program.
During the celebration, visitors can tour the genetic testing laboratory and Price Farm’s newest additions—an operations building, propagation facility and greenhouse. Wagon rides through the orchards are accompanied by farm staff who will describe the field testing and overall breeding program. Those interested can learn about membership and volunteer opportunities such as planting, inoculating, pollinating, harvesting and educational outreach.
Snacks will include roasted chestnuts, chestnut hummus, chestnut brownies, gluten-free cookies made with chestnut flour, freshly pressed apple cider, and chestnut beer locally brewed by The Damascus Brewery. The Pointer Brothers, an acoustic trio based in southwest Virginia, will perform live at the farm.
“The mission of The American Chestnut Foundation is a very long-range one, which is unusual in this fast-paced world,” says Goodridge. “This celebration is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about this critical species while enjoying the beautiful landscape and having a lot of fun!”
The event is located at 29010 Hawthorne Drive, Meadowview, VA. Admission is free, though donations are accepted. Beer, t-shirts and raffle tickets are available for purchase. To learn more visit acf.org, email swvabranch@acf.org or call 276.944.4631.
