Bring your family and friends out to Geauga Park District’s Sap’s-A-Risin’ for a taste of how maple sugaring has evolved since the Native Americans. Then, a taste of the sticky stuff itself! Plus, for the first time in a decade, a horse-drawn sap sled in the sugar bush!
This year’s Sap’s-A-Risin’ events will be Sundays, March 15 & 22, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Swine Creek Reservation, 16004 Hayes Road, Middlefield/Parkman Townships.
Guests are always excited for this free experience. Enjoy historical interactions with costumed interpreters, gather sap during a stroll through the sugar bush (did we mention there will be Percheron horses?!), see and learn how sap is boiled in the sugarhouse’s evaporator, enjoy a sample taste of syrup, then warm up in the lodge with live music by Drake Hollow String Band on March 15 and The Real Deal String Band on March 22, woodcarving demonstrations with Jim Stadtlander and Diane Harto, maple stirs and maple popcorn.
Geauga Park District’s sugar house was built in 1983 on a 32-acre sugar bush, thanks to the inspiration of former Park Board member Mark Sperry, a staunch believer in public education. This Genuine Geauga experience has become a memorable family tradition for many, drawing an average 400 people each day.
Registration is not required for this program. The lodge, history trail and sugarhouse are fully wheelchair/stroller accessible, but sap gathering is off trail.
Call 440-286-9516 with questions about Sap’s-a-Risin’!
This story is brought to you by Geauga Park District
