The inaugural “Pennsylvania Chestnut Festival” took place Saturday at the Castanea Fire Company Picnic Grounds near Lock Haven. It's meant to celebrate the area's chestnut history and raise awareness for recovery efforts for the American chestnut tree, which is functionally extinct in North America.
Two members of the Hooskow Chainsaw Carvers were outside the event carving wooden sculptures. The group travels to Clinton County every fall for the Chainsaw Carvers’ Event.
“They're selling their wares, and it looks like they're doing a squirrel with a nut," said John Gradel, a Castanea Township supervisor. He later confirmed they were carving a chestnut.
Gradel said the township is named after Castanea dentata, which is the scientific name for the American Chestnut tree.
“It's funny because, you know, people that have lived in the township for like 30 years didn't realize what Castanea actually stood for," Gradel said.
Besides celebrating chestnuts, Gradel said the tourism committee wanted to offer more events during the post-Christmas lull.
At the festival, there were burn barrels outside where people could roast s’mores and stay warm, but most were gathered inside the picnic grounds building.
Hundreds of people packed in to listen to live polka music, shop at local vendor stands, and sample roasted chestnuts.
Bob Kennedy and Dan Gales worked the table selling those sample chestnuts, which were actually bought online. They couldn’t get enough locally. Kennedy and Gales are both from Lock Haven, and say they’ve eaten chestnuts their whole lives.
"You got to soak them in salt water for about an hour," Kennedy said. "Then you gotta score them to open up a little bit with a sharp knife. Soak them for an hour in salt water, then you pat them dry, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them for 20 to 30 minutes."
Then, Kennedy said the chestnuts should pop open and be ready for eating.
Chestnuts are protected by a spiky outer layer and a shell. The nuts themselves are rich in calories, vitamin C and antioxidants.
The festival ran out of roasted chestnuts about an hour after opening.
There were several informational stands for people to learn more about chestnuts.
“Chestnuts and other kinds of trees are a very important food source for wildlife, so we're here representing that," said Shawna Burkett, a lieutenant with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Burkett said the Game Commission is working to introduce hybrid chestnut trees. Many of the chestnuts currently in the U.S. are already hybrids, or are purely European or Asian species.
The American Chestnut Foundation also had a stand at the festival.
“The chestnut tree has been reduced from a forest tree species to a forest shrub that often does not reproduce," said Lake Graboski, a regional science coordinator with the foundation. "It is actually a functionally extinct species.”
He says a fungus introduced in the late 1800’s is to blame for the American Chestnut’s downfall. Graboski says people planted Japanese and Chinese chestnut trees that co-evolved with the fungus and were immune. But that fungus spread and destroyed American chestnuts from the inside.
Graboski said there are some American chestnuts that have survived the blight.
“And so part of our mission in trying to breed trees that are resistant to the blight is, we're looking for these trees and trying to cross them together to see if we can use that to help increase the chestnut’s blight resistance, among other methods," Graboski said.
Graboski said the American Chestnut Foundation wants to bring the tree back to its native range in the eastern United States, including Pennsylvania. The foundation has a chapter headquartered at Penn State.
“Our approach is to try to use every tool at our disposal," Graboski said. "So we have pursued biotechnology, which is genetic engineering. We've done traditional breeding.”
Graboski said he’s hopeful for the chestnut’s future since the blight cannot kill its roots, and it is a fast-growing tree.
As for the Chestnut Festival, organizers hope it will also expand in the years ahead with more decorations and maybe some local roasted chestnuts to enjoy.
Plus, township officials say they’re putting together plans to celebrate the state’s oldest surviving American chestnut. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources recently discovered the two-foot-wide tree in nearby Sproul State Forest.
