ROWLESBURG — The 12th Annual Chestnut Festival drew a large crowd Sunday. People could be seen having lunch at the Szilagyi Center, visiting one of several museums in the building, or buying roasted chestnuts or other goodies in the park.
The idea for the festival began more than 12 years ago, when past director Shirley Hartley Meissner, director emeritus Dr. N. Joseph Nassif, and Dallis Wolfe Jr. got together to make plans for the first festival.
“Joe (Nassif) begged us for years, and we finally did it,” Meissner said. “It took several years of planning.”
Nassif agreed.
“We flew by the seat of our pants,” he said. “I was a member of the Virginia Chapter of the Chestnut Foundation. Two of their members agreed to come to Rowlesburg and make sure our first festival was a success.”
The festival celebrates the effort to restore the American chestnut to its once prominent position in the eastern hardwood forests.
Gary Blaney from Cuyahoga Falls and Barbara Hoffmeyer from Alliance, Ohio said this was their first visit to the festival.
“It’s very nice, and we will probably come back next year,” Blaney said.
Blaney’s twin brother, Larry said it was his first time to visit too.
“I’ve lived here all these years and have never been here before,” he said.
Another visitor, this one from North Carolina ,said this was her second visit.
“It’s nice,” Stacy Butt said. “I think there were more vendors the last year.”
Author Thomas H. Williams from Tunnelton said he came to the festival to advertise his books. Williams recently published his third book in a series about a professor who solves crimes. He has also written several historical novels, one of which is about the Civil War and includes Rowlesburg as one of the locations.
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