About our guests
Here at the Pawpaw Festival, we’re dedicated to bringing you family fun, great entertainment, and engaging educational opportunities for both our community and visitors. If you want to learn more about the wonderful, elusive—yet native—pawpaw fruit, you’ve come to the right place.
This year’s festival features speakers such as our very own Todd McCree and author Michael Judd, each sharing their unique expertise and passion for pawpaws. For 2025, we’re excited to welcome several more special guests. Read on to discover their stories…
Todd McCree
At this year’s Pawpaw Festival, we’re thrilled to welcome back Todd McCree of Great Escape Farms, who will be presenting on the fascinating world of pawpaws and other edible plants.
Todd is more than a gardener—he’s a visionary, dedicated to sustainable, regenerative practices that inspire and empower. As the owner of Great Escape Farms, he has transformed his nursery into an agritourism haven, where visitors don’t just explore—they leave energized, educated, and excited to cultivate their own green spaces. His mission? To spark joy, share knowledge, and build a more connected, earth-friendly future.
About Great Escape Farms: Nestled just outside Romney, WV, Great Escape Farms has been a family-run business since 2015, specializing in unique edible plants and serving as a showcase for Permaculture and regenerative agriculture. They propagate most of their plants onsite, offering varieties such as Elderberry, Pawpaw, Hardy Kiwi, Persimmon, and Honeyberry, among many others.
Committed to sustainability, the farm harvests rainwater for irrigation and integrates eco-friendly practices whenever possible. Beyond farming, they create educational YouTube videos on plant propagation, homesteading, and practical DIY projects—including how to set up a rainwater harvesting system.
Join Todd at the festival as he shares his expertise, passion, and insights into the hidden gems of edible plants!
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@greatescapefarms
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatEscapeFarms
Michael Judd
For the 2025 Pawpaw Festival, we’re honored to welcome Michael Judd, a leading expert in agro-ecology and permaculture design with over two decades of experience across the Americas. His work has transformed landscapes, increased local food security, and strengthened community health in both tropical and temperate regions.
Michael is the founder of Ecologia Edible & Ecological Landscape Design and Project Bona Fide, an international nonprofit advancing agro-ecology research. He also co-founded SilvoCulture, a Maryland-based initiative aiming to plant 1 million nut trees in the Mid-Atlantic region. His passion for regenerative practices shines through his books, including Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist and For the Love of Pawpaws.
His expertise has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and BBC, and he has spoken at prestigious institutions such as the U.S. Botanical Garden, Smithsonian, and Monticello.
Michael and his family reside in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Frederick, Maryland, where they continue to cultivate and innovate for a more sustainable future.
Join us at the festival to hear firsthand from Michael Judd as he shares his insights on permaculture, pawpaws, and the power of sustainable landscapes!
David Abruzzi
David Abruzzi is a veteran and registered architect who founded Cacapon Preservation Solutions, LLC in 2022 with the vision to “Protect & Preserve WV Historic Places for the benefit of current and future generations”. The purpose of his firm is to “assist property owners, municipalities, residents, and concerned citizens who want to protect and preserve historic structures navigate the historic preservation process.” In 2025, the state of WV recognized David’s work in Paw Paw, WV with the WV History Hero Award.
David earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Architecture from Tulane University and a Masters degree in Architecture from the University of New Mexico with graduate level coursework in historic preservation. He and his wife settled in Largent in 2014 after David completed a 20-year career as an Air Force Civil Engineer Officer.
Greg Sherbert
Greg Sherbert lives in Berkeley Springs, WV with his wife Carly and son Graham. After graduating from Indiana University in 2011, Greg and Carly began working on several different farms focused on grass-fed beef and dairy, forest and pasture raised pork and chicken, organic vegetables, tree fruit, and nursery production. Greg was certified in Permaculture Design in 2014 and has worked in edible landscaping, raw milk dairy, land surveying, and mobile sawmilling. In 2017 Greg and Carly moved to Berkeley Springs, WV and started Forest Shepherd Farm, a nursery focused on providing edible and useful plants for resilient landscapes and farm layout design and installation. Greg has participated in keyline and agroforestry trainings with the Regrarians, SilvoPro, and Propagate Ventures.
Osier Blackthumb
Osier Blackthumb is a semi-retired Organic farmer who has been teaching foraging, ecology, and critical thinking to the public for his entire adult life. He is currently enthralled with the rejuvenation of an old homestead in Texel West Virginia, where he is establishing a permaculture nursery based largely on locally sourced seed.
Rodney Dever
Rodney completed his MS in biology at West Virginia University researching wild onions. His focus is on native plants. He leads nature walks in all seasons as president of the West Virginia Native Plant Society – Eastern Panhandle Chapter. These days Rodney works with Neal Peterson, propagating new and improved varieties of pawpaws.