David and Jennifer Cross of Sycamore and their two daughters took advantage of the springlike weather Saturday to learn something about maple syrup.
“We came to this because I remember doing something like it as a kid,” David Cross said as he and his family stopped by a demonstration site at the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles shortly after noon. “It was fun and this looked like a nice day to be outside and check things out.”
The Forest Preserve District of Kane County is offering its Maple Sugaring Days at the forest preserve this weekend. The event will conclude from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The sight of maple trees dripping sap into buckets was seen throughout the forest preserve Saturday as Kane County Forest Preserve District naturalists demonstrated how to tap a maple tree and offered an opportunity for guests to try drilling and setting a tap of their own.
The event also includes the chance to go on a hike in order to learn about distinguishing maples from other hardwood trees and as well as drop in to the Maple Cafe on site for ice cream drizzled with syrup.
In addition, maple doughnuts, cookies, hot chocolate and coffee are also for sale along with local maple syrup available at various price points.
Naturalist Erica Lemon said the event has been held “for close to 20 years” and attracted more than 1,000 people over the two-day weekend a year ago.
With no snow in the area Friday and warmer temperatures this weekend, this year’s event was expected to be just as large.
“It always depends on weather,” she said about attendance. “I think people like getting out and doing something as winter is winding down and people these days are taking more of an interest in where their food is coming from.
“We cover things like the history of maple tapping and how the syrup is actually made along with tapping demonstrations where we’ve got a bucket on a tree and show how to actually tap into one,” she said. “We have old-fashioned hand drills so people can see how difficult it was to go into a tree before electric drills.”
Lemon said the process of making syrup “remains kind of a mysterious topic because we think of syrup mostly as the artificial type bought in supermarkets.”
“Syrup is really different from the imitation syrup we tend to get from the stores and a lot of people really like the hands-on materials we have for kids and families,” she said. “It’s the end of winter. The weather generally gets nicer and people want to get out and because we have been doing this for so many years it’s become a tradition people want to come to and check out.”
David and Jennifer Cross watched as their two daughters tried to drill holes in a log during a simulation.
“We’re putting them to work today,” David Cross said as he watched his daughters. “I think it’s really important kids know where their food comes from and I think it establishes some good baselines for them as they get older and how to eat and respecting the food they get and being appreciative.”
Jennifer Cross said she and her daughters “were super excited to try some of the real product” when it comes to maple syrup.
Rod Campbell, a volunteer at the event, said he has worked during Maple Sugaring Days for more than a decade and that the most asked question year in and year out is “people wanting to know which trees have sap.”
“All tress have sap, of course, but they want to know which trees will give you the best chance of making syrup,” he said. “They definitely want to try this themselves, especially if they have maple trees on their property.”
Lisette Blust of St. Charles and her son and daughter visited the Maple Cafe Saturday for some free ice cream and a chance to sample the real syrup that was offered.
“This is the first time we’ve come here. We drive by all the time and see the signs on our way to gymnastics and soccer and we have a lot of maple trees in our yard,” Blust said. “We were just curious. We could actually do this at home and it would be fun.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
