What good is a ton of acorns?

At a ceremony on Thursday morning at the Justh Zsigmond City Library, the best participants of the "Let's collect acorns in Orosháza" campaign were honored. The action, organized by the Németh Imre Foundation, exceeded all prior expectations.

The initiative grew out of a private idea. Emma Varga was inspired by a lecture from the Sixty Thousand Trees Association in Békéscsaba. She thought that if she couldn't plant an oak forest herself, she could at least help by collecting acorns. In the first call in 2021, only about one quintal (100 kg) of acorns was gathered. Later, the Németh Imre Foundation took the initiative under its wing. For participants in the 2nd "Let's collect acorns in Orosháza" project, the period from late September to mid-November was very busy. The organizers never imagined that 400–450 people would be enticed outdoors in that time and would collect 964 kg of acorns—people of all ages from toddlers to pensioners.

We learned that this year the city's kindergartens and schools were contacted one by one, and they gladly joined—in fact, with great results. Over the past two and a half months, just short of one ton of acorns was collected in and around Orosháza, so they can become oak seedlings, later oak trees, even oak forests. The larger portion went to Békéscsaba to the Sixty Thousand Trees Association for planting, while a smaller portion went to Kiss Ferenc Forestry Technikum in Szeged, where they have already been planted in the school's nursery.

One wouldn't think there are more than forty places in Orosháza to collect oak acorns: the Catholic church garden, Árpád Garden, the OMTK field, Kossuth Square, the space in front of Eötvös School, Móricz kindergarten, Gyopáros—each offers opportunities.

At the ceremony, Melinda Mészáros, president of the Németh Imre Foundation, greeted the participants and thanked them for the diligent collecting work that resulted in a ton of acorns. Then Imre Csepregi, forest engineer and instructor at the Kiss Ferenc Forestry Technikum in Szeged, gave a short lecture on the importance of afforestation, with special regard to the droughts of recent years that have taken a toll on trees and forests.

The acorn-collecting contest awarded prizes by category: kindergartners; lower and upper primary grades; secondary school students; and private individuals. The best in each category received certificates and valuable gifts. Thanks to the Németh Imre Foundation and its supporters, every participant left the ceremony with a small or larger gift.

József Csányi

Oroscafé.hu