Castanea Township Meeting Highlights: Community Food Bank Discussion, Christmas Event Preparations Underway, and Supervisors Approve Berkheimer for Tax Collection

By Emily Wright

CASTANEA TOWNSHIP— At the Castanea Township supervisors meeting on Monday, November 3, 2025, supervisors and community members discussed launching a potential food bank initiative and finalized plans for upcoming holiday events aimed at bringing the community together. The supervisors also voted to approve Berkheimer Digital Tax Solutions to manage the township’s real estate tax collection, which will be finalized in January 2026.

Township Secretary Shelly Davis shared a proposal from Castanea resident Teresa Brundage, who expressed interest in establishing a food bank in the township. The supervisors and residents in attendance discussed possible locations and logistics for the initiative. Suggestions ranged from utilizing the township’s Little Library boxes for food donations and pickups to installing a shelf inside the Township Municipal Building or placing one under the pavilion at Harvey’s Run Park.

Molly, a township resident attending the meeting, spoke about the community’s desire to support residents in various municipalities throughout the county who are in need of food, so they don’t need to travel to receive assistance. “We want to do stuff for our little townships too, not just doing one like at Triangle Park,” she explained. Molly also proposed that a group of township residents could be stationed at the Township Municipal Building to facilitate both food donations and distributions. “We were just trying to get some ideas of what would be okay for people here and where we could do it,” she said.

Recreation Board Chairman Rick Schulze pointed out that a key challenge with using the Township Municipal Building is that the secretary is only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays during business hours. Highlighting the need for a flexible system that serves Castanea residents, Molly explained, “That’s why we weren’t necessarily going to do it here. We want to see what people’s ideas are, even at the playground or firehall—anywhere that would be accessible.”

Molly also suggested that, in the long term, the food donation effort could expand to help people beyond Castanea Township. “We want to distribute it to different places each weekend on Sunday,” she said. “We don’t want to be just in one place. We want to be able to distribute it to different places so people from Castanea who need help don’t have to walk,” she added. “We were thinking that we want this to stay, not just because of the shutdown and the whole benefit thing; we don’t want to stop after this is over. We want to keep the momentum going.”

Township Chairman Brandon Coleman addressed practical issues related to sanitation and access, particularly because the township office is only open during limited hours, and only nonperishable food donations could be accepted. He suggested placing a plastic cabinet under the pavilion at Harvey’s Run Park so residents could drop off and pick up non-perishable food items at any time.

After further discussion, Coleman agreed to meet with the Castanea Township Recreation Committee to continue developing the idea, with the goal of creating a sustainable food support system for Castanea Township residents.

Recreation Board Chairman Rick Schulze shared updates from the recreation committee, including details on the upcoming annual Castanea Township Christmas tree lighting ceremony, scheduled for Friday, November 28, at 6:00 p.m. This year’s event will feature a performance by the Central Mountain High School marching band, and Santa (Vinnie Kishbaugh), along with Mrs. Claus (Recreation Board Member MaryPat Dion), will be on hand for photo opportunities. In addition, a Santa’s Mailbox will be set up at the tree lighting for children to submit their letters to Santa. Schulze stressed that parents should ensure children include their return addresses on the letters so recreation committee members can send personalized responses. The last day to submit a letter to Santa’s Mailbox will be Monday, December 15.

Schulze also announced that Wednesday, December 17, will be the final day to participate in the township’s Christmas House Decorating Contest. On December 17 at 6:30 p.m., the recreation committee will tour Castanea to judge the participating homes. The winner will receive a wooden sign, recognizing their achievements and proclaiming them the best-decorated house in the township.

The township is also preparing for its 2nd annual Pennsylvania Chestnut Festival, which will take place on Saturday, January 24, 2026, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Castanea Fire Company Picnic Grounds, 859 Lower Creek Road. Schulze announced that approximately 30 vendors and exhibitors have already signed up for the event.

A unique feature of this year’s festival centers around Rusty Russell, a former township resident who owns a chestnut farm in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Russell’s parents still reside in Castanea, and he is donating chestnuts for this year’s festivities. “He donated some chestnuts to his father, and his father is apparently a specialist in roasting chestnuts, so he’s going to help us with the festival,” Schulze said.

Under Old Business, the supervisors approved transferring real estate tax collection duties to Berkheimer Digital Tax Solutions, a move expected to save township taxpayers money. Supervisor Coleman pointed out that Berkheimer’s commission rate is considerably lower than that of the Keystone Central Tax Office, which previously handled the township’s tax collection. “For this township alone, it’s going to put $5,000 more of taxpayers’ money back in this township to work for the township,” Coleman said. “It’s not going to go to pay for the commission of someone to collect it.”

Coleman explained that the Keystone Central Tax Office was charging a 5% commission—the highest rate in Pennsylvania—while Berkheimer’s commission is only about 1.8 to 1.9%.

Another advantage of switching to Berkheimer is that the company plans to open an office in the UPMC building in McElhattan, giving residents the option to handle tax-related matters in person.

The supervisors made a motion to approve Berkheimer as the new tax collector, with plans to officially formalize the appointment at the January reorganizational meeting.

The next Castanea Township Supervisors meeting is scheduled for December 15, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. at the Castanea Township Municipal Building, located at 347 Nittany Road, Lock Haven, PA 17745. For the latest announcements and other information, visit www.castaneatownshippa.gov and follow the township on Facebook at www.facebook.com/castaneatownship.