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Marshal Case, President and CEO of The
American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) Board of Directors,
was on hand Monday for the dedication ceremony of an
American Chestnut tree on the Dalton State College
campus, planted in honor of native Daltonian Mary Belle
Price.
Others who participated in the dedication ceremony
included Ms. Carolyn Hill, President of the Georgia
chapter of TACF; Dr. Fred Hebard, Staff Pathologist of
Meadowview Research Farms for TACF; Dr. John Hutcheson,
Vice President for Academic Affairs at Dalton State; and
Mr. David Carlton, Plant Operations for the College.
The ceremony honored the former Mary Belle Young, a 1935
graduate of Dalton High School. Along with her husband,
Glenn C. Price, Mary Belle became a tireless champion
for the American chestnut tree, which was nearly
destroyed during the 1904 blight.
“Mary Belle Price has been presented to The American
Chestnut Board of Directors for nomination as an
Honorary Director,” announced Case during the ceremony.
“Former President Jimmy Carter, long-time Honorary
Director of TACF, will be pleased to know that a fellow
Georgian has received this great honor.”
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The chestnut tree that was planted on the Dalton State
campus is three-quarters percent American chestnut but
contains the Chinese chestnut genes that make it blight
resistant.
“Chestnut trees once dominated eastern forests,
comprising as much as one-fourth of the entire Southern
Appalachian landscape,” Professor of Sociology Don
Davis.
Price, along with her husband Glenn, established a farm
near her adult home of Abingdon, Virginia, for the
planting of the American Chestnut tree as a research
program of the Foundation.
She also established a $1000 scholarship for high school
students in the Washington County, Virginia, area where
she and her husband spent most of their married life.
“Mary Belle Price has provided quiet and consistent
wisdom, counsel, encouragement and funds to help the
Foundation move forward with its mission of restoring
the American chestnut to eastern forests,” Case adds.
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