HemlockFest Also Supports American Chestnut Restoration

GA-TACF President Kathy Patrick poses by the chapter’s American chestnut booth.

The 2019 HemlockFest (November 1-3) was a huge success for everyone involved! The event is a three-day outdoor music festival organized by the Lumpkin Coalition that includes camping and fun for all ages. For the past 15 years, attendees have enjoyed great music, arts and crafts, food and drink from local vendors, and various exhibits and environmental education events. Proceeds are split between several labs in Georgia working on biocontrol of the hemlock woolly adelgid and the GA-TACF Chapter!  In the last three years alone, HemlockFest funds allocated to the GA-TACF Chapter have totaled $45,000!

Chapter volunteers staff an American chestnut educational display booth,  and for the past several years have helped with site setup and breakdown, as well as operating the ticketing booth. This year, volunteers included Kathy Patrick, Martin Cipollini, Jack Rogers (also a Lumpkin Coalition board member), Steve Barber, Emily Elrod, and Ana Metaxas. Despite heavy rains in the week leading up to this year’s event, participants enjoyed three days of fabulous, crisp fall weather making it one of the most enjoyable events in recent years. In addition to a variety of live music, activities included canoeing, tree climbing, atlatl dart throwing, guided nature hikes, costume contests, morning yoga, a lantern parade and burning of the adelgid effigy, and shadow dancing.

The Lumpkin Coalition is a small group of local citizens who plan and carry out this event every year with an all-volunteer force. It is a remarkable feat for this hardy and dedicated group. To sustain this event in the future, the coalition is seeking new leaders to help with planning, marketing, logistics, and other matters necessary to pulling it off successfully. If you are interested in helping in any way, please email the GA-TACF Chapter.  Even if you can’t volunteer, come and enjoy future “HemlockFestivities,” while supporting two great “tree” causes. For more information about the festival, visit  http://hemlockfest.org/blog