Celebration of the American Chestnut

A Celebration of the American Chestnut Tree

The Blue Ridge Heritage (BRH) invites the public to enjoy a taste of the simple life with a free Mountains of Music Homecoming Cultural event on June 9, 2018 from 10:00 am until noon at 902 Rock Castle Gorge Road, Floyd, VA for a Celebration of the American Chestnut.

A special invitation goes out to those families who remember gathering Chestnuts, having farm animals that foraged among the giants of the forest, timbered the dead and dying Chestnut trees or have related stories. The Celebration will include displays by the Patrick County Historical Society, the Floyd County Historical Society, the American Chestnut Foundation and a BRH display with American Chestnut wood and a Chestnut roasting pan. A panel discussion will feature a history of the local chestnut trade by Ralph Lutts-Visiting Scholar, Virginia Tech, information about the American Chestnuts along the Blue Ridge Parkway by Tom Davis, Natural Resource Specialist, Blue Ridge Parkway and from Tom Saeilli, Mid-Atlantic Science Coordinator, American Chestnut Foundation, a description of efforts to restore the American Chestnut throughout its former range. The panel discussion will be followed by a community conversation: My family and the American Chestnut and at Noon, a hybrid (fungus resistant) chestnut tree will be planted. After lunch on your own, concurrent afternoon field trips will be available to the following local points of interest:

1-3 p.m. Concord Primitive Baptist Church Open House. American Chestnut interior.
Church congregation

1:30 p.m. Walk to view wild American Chestnuts growing of BRH property
Wayne Kirkpatrick, Blue Ridge Heritage

1:30 p.m. Walk to view Asian chestnuts planted in 1940 & 1950 in Rocky Knob Campground
Ralph Lutts and Tom Davis

BRH works to promote education and economic development through place-based programs related to the natural and cultural heritage of the Blue Ridge in Southwestern Virginia’s Bi-County area of Floyd and Patrick Counties. To learn more, please visit brheritage.org. For additional information about the Celebration of the American Chestnut, please contact Wayne Kirkpatrick at wynbtyk@embarqmail.com or 540.570.3511.