On Thursday, Fairfield’s Conservation Director, Brian Carey,  lead a tour of the stands of American chestnut trees gifted and planted by members of the Fairfield Garden Club, a member of the Garden Club of America, and Fairfield Public Works in 2012. The tour which included an inspection of the trees Fairfield Garden Club members, including current Club president Barbara Geddes Wooten, and Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis who’s retired from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology. Both Ms. Geddes Wooten and Dr. Anagnostakis were instrumental in the process of developing this tree-planting project.

The American Chestnut Restoration Project was created by the Fairfield Garden Club to celebrate The Garden Club of America’s Centennial in 2013. As of July 1, 2017, 61 of the 100 trees planted were thriving in eight public spaces in Fairfield. Planting these 100 hybrids may be a linchpin in the return of the giant of the forest to southwestern Connecticut. In the late 19th century, a blight wiped out the American chestnut. The strong wood was used in the building trades. Many turn of the century Connecticut products made were made from Chestnut including musical instruments and pianos (in Ivoryton).