The sun was already hot at 10 a.m. at Willamette University’s Zena property outside Salem, where students and faculty gathered to celebrate OakFest 2022 on Saturday.
The student group “Stewarding Our Oregon Oaks: A Restoration Project” (otherwise shortened to Growing Oaks) put on the event as part of their mission to raise environmental awareness and transform it into action on behalf of an iconic native Oregon tree.
Growing Oaks members were busily setting up tables and also Willamette Valley Farm Club members were busy laying out a delicious repast for visitors prepared from foods harvested from the Zena property. Delicacies such as “crispy sage” were on the menu.
Soon, the first visitors started to arrive on buses, and they were invited to make an acorn necklace, plant an acorn tree in a small container to take home, and also take several guided walks on the property led by various Growing Oaks members and other staff. Visitors also attended an oak seedling planting, and then a food demonstration of Korean acorn jelly and acorn flour pancakes made from acorns the Growing Oaks members had gathered and processed for the event. Visitors could also taste fresh pressed cider made by the Willamette Valley Farm Club members or go on a scavenger hunt arranged by the land art students who built a project involving building fairy house installations.
According to the website, The Growing Oaks project “strives to educate the community about the importance of this keystone species, the Oregon oak.” These goals are undertaken through actions such as “collecting acorns to grow, protecting wild oaks, taking political actions, as well as creating social outreach to the Salem community.” The group chose to focus on the cultivation of Oregon White Oaks because of their significance in the culture of the Kalapuyan people, now represented by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, who are the original stewards of the Willamette Valley.
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Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.
