There’s nothing like sitting down to breakfast with a plate of pancakes and some maple syrup.
But making that syrup begins with a process that was first documented in North America by French explorer André Thévet in 1557.
Today extracting sugar from maple trees isn’t something people think about; it’s just providing in the grocery aisles.
The Champaign County Forest Preserve wants to provide Champaign County residents with the opportunity to learn more about and experience the extraction of maple sugar from their 200-year old maple tree grove located at the Homer Lake Forest Preserve.
Over the last couple years, Maple Sugar Days has grown to be a popular event for the forest preserve district.
The staff has extended the program to include two sessions (10-11:30 a.m. or 12:30-2 p.m.) on Feb. 23 and March 2 to accommodate additional guests. Registration and a $5 fee per person is required to attend the event. The event will accomodate 25 guests per session.
Public Program and Visitor Services Coordinator Pat Cain who is organizing the 2019 event said that the group will begin at the Interpretative Center to learn more about the legends behind maple sugaring and how Native Americans used to use the sap.
He said guests will also take a look inside the process the tree goes through as it comes out of its dormant state and how sap play and important part in that.
As guests make their way into the maple tree grove, volunteer John Garvey will go over the maple sugaring process from tapping the tree, how sap comes out of the tree and how the sap is collected. The sap will be poured into pans over an open fire where it will be boiled down until it reaches a syrup consistency.
Because the process can take days, guests will not get to see the process through, but will gather back at the Interpretative Center for pastries and the grove’s syrup from the previous season.
The event usually fills up quickly, so registration is available online at ccfpd.org.
