The bountiful fruit of the common oak tree will be celebrated Saturday during the annual Acorn Festival in Selma.
The free event will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Selma Community Center, 18255 Redwood Highway. The community is about 20 miles south of Grants Pass on Highway 199.
Displays will be set up and demonstrations conducted throughout the day. There will also be activities for children. Opening ceremony will include songs by Whistling Elk, a powwow drum group.
Highlights include a demonstration by Yurok Tribe member Lena Hurd of American Indian cooking in a traditional style basket under a pole shelter, a presentation by the Lomakatsi Restoration Project on how native peoples used fire to keep oak groves healthy and a discussion about processing and cooking acorns by Suzanne Vautier of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural & Ecological Project. Lomakatsi will also provide a tour of a local oak grove.
An acorn feast scheduled for 5 to 6 p.m. will include an assortment of foods made with acorns.
The event is sponsored by nonprofit organizations that include the Indigenous Peoples Cultural & Ecological Project, Spiral Living Center, Lomakatsi Restoration Project, Siskiyou Project and Red Earth Descendants.
Details: Suzanne Vautier at 592-3939.
— Staff reports