It was a sweet time for those who love the sap coming from maple trees.
The 24th bi-annual Maple Syrup Festival at McLean Teddy Bear Park featured guided tours that gave people a chance to see how maple syrup is produced.
For Paul Smith and his family, picking up some Ohio made real maple syrup was a late winter treat.
“Oh yeah, we really enjoy the maple syrup here. It’s something you can’t get in the store. It’s something that me and the kids and the family really love,“said Smith.
We stopped by the sugar shack and spoke with Dave Betts about how the syrup is made.
“This is the final stop in the maple syrup route. The trees are tapped with buckets...They empty the buckets...When it comes out of the trees it’s only about 3% sugar. The rest of that is all water. So you have to get that water out of there...and you put it in here and boil it until you get it percentage of sugar you want ,“ said Betts.
The sap being processed into maple syrup at Teddy Bear Park is a bit sweeter than normal according to volunteer coordinator Chris Fetzer.
“This year our maple sap that we’ve taken is running about 4% content, which is little higher than usual and personally I think...it’s because of the drought we had last fall,“ said Fetzer.
The Maple Syrup Festival will continue on Sunday from Noon until 5 p.m.
There is no charge for attend the event.
