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Chestnut Week at the 2021 PA Farm Show

The PA/NJ Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is hosting a series of Zoom webinars designed to answer all your questions about the American chestnut.  We are featuring an array of experts on growing, restoring, finding, and farming chestnuts in our region, and hope you will join us. All these webinars are free and open to the public; and will be recorded for future sharing.

Don’t miss this virtual reinvention of the PA Farm Show. Join us online to ask questions and learn about all the different aspects of our restoration work. There will be a brownbag lunch series and two evening shows. Check out the schedule below:

 

Thursday, January 14th

Recording pending — Silvicultural Aspects of American chestnut and Implications for Species Restoration, presented by Sara Fern Fitzsimmons, TACF Director of Restoration and Northern Appalachian Regional Science Coordinator

Recording pending — Commercial Chestnut Industry in Michigan: A Model for PA?A Conversation with Roger Blackwell, President of New Era Chestnuts in Milford Michigan hosted by Jim Searing, PA/NJ Chapter Board President

Friday, January 15th

12:00 PM -1:00 PM — Finding American Chestnuts, presented by Lake Graboski, TACF Board Member and Volunteer, M.S. Ecology the Pennsylvania State University.

Webiar recoings and more from “Chestnut Week” at the PA Farm Show:  

Bringing back the American chestnut presented by Mike Aucott, Ph.D.,  PA/NJ TACF board member and adjunct professor of chemistry, The College of New Jersey   

Cooperative solutions for Chestnut Processing —  a demonstration of processing equipment by Stephen Hoy, Orchard Manager at Penn State University

Chestnut Farming—A Growth Opportunity:  A Conversation with Amy Miller,  hosted byJim Searing, PA/NJ Chapter Board President

The American chestnut: how biotechnology can be applied to conservation  presented by William Powell, Ph.D.,  Director, American Chestnut Research & Restoration Project, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 


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Special Membership Offer — January 2021

New members who join this month will be automatically entered to win 6 pints of ice cream from the Penn State Berkey Creamery, shipped to their home. We will contact the winning member to confirm address and date for shipment. This prize is a gift from a generous member, to encourage new members.  Follow this link to check out the great flavors at the Penn State Berkey Creamery!

Join today!

Help Save the American Chestnut Tree

The mission of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is to return the iconic American chestnut tree (Castanea dentata) to its native range. Using a full toolbox of approaches, our overall goal is to restore an entire forest ecosystem. In the process, TACF hopes to create a template for restoration of other tree and plant species threatened by non-native pests and pathogens.

All members will receive:

  • A subscription to Chestnut magazine, published three times a year
  • Membership in your local state chapter
  • Expert advice on growing and caring for American chestnut trees
  • Opportunities to volunteer in local breeding and research activities
  • Special access to annual wild American chestnut seedling sale

If you prefer to mail your donation, click here to download a printable membership form to include with your gift. 

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Fall Appeal – Exceeds Fundraising Goal!

We set the modest fundraising goalof $4,000 this fall to  help with Safety and Personal Protection Equipment. And once again the generosity of our members and supporters has overwhelmed us. Just short of $1000 of our goal last week received a matching challenge from an anonymous donor. If we reached our goal of $4,000 they would donate $3,000.

We did it! Actually we surpassed that goal. With pledged goals coming in January we will have raised over  $9,000 for our restoration research.

Thank you!