FROM MERRILEE, HMC President
“’Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.’ is a 14th Century proverb meaning that significant achievements, large organizations, or great successes often have small, humble beginnings.
Our family’s story began in 1843 when our ancestors journeyed west on the Oregon Trail in search of new opportunities and the promise of a better future. From those humble beginnings, generation after generation has grown and flourished just as mighty oaks grow from little acorns. As we celebrate more than one hundred years of family reunions, we proudly embrace the oak tree as a symbol of the strength, resilience, and deep roots that connect us. Like the pioneers who came before us, we honor our shared heritage while looking ahead to the generations yet to come. May our roots remain strong, our branches continue to grow, and our family gather for generations to come.”
RETURNING TO THE OAKS
Maud Williamson Park may be changing in a big way.
In recent years, Douglas fir trees in the Pacific Northwest have been subject to dieback from a combination of hotter droughts and insects that attack the stressed trees. The trees in Maud Williamson State Recreation Site where we hold our Reunions, are a stand of mature, second-growth Douglas firs. Over time, Oregon State parks may be replacing them with oak trees.
For more information on the dieback, see extension.oregonstate.edu Trees on the Edge.
Before our Matheny ancestors homesteaded the area that is now the park, it would have been an oak savannah managed by the Kalapuya people. Oak savannah once covered a million acres in the Willamette Valley. Now only about one percent remains.
For a discussion on oak savannahs and efforts to bring them back go to PBS/OPB’s Oregon Field Guide Season 21, Episode 2111, “Oak Savannah”.