Sticky Season
Annual Maple Harvest
Festival celebrates local syrup
By Amanda Bricker
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
It's that time of year when
Mother Nature can't quite
decide if it's spring or winter,
when days may seem warm and
sunny but nighttime tempera
tures fall below freezing making
you long for the mild weather of
June.
Yes, it's the time of year for
The Annual Maple Harvest Fes
tival which will be held from 11
a.m. to 4 p.m. this weekend at
Shaver's Creek Environmental
Center.
Few know that this transition
period from winter to spring is
precisely the time when maple
syrup is made, practically in
Penn State's backyard, where
about 25 Penn State students
will be both volunteering and
teaching at an event completely
devoted to the making of
nature's finest treat, pure maple
syrup. Various stations will be
set up to give insight into the
process of making the sap, of a
maple tree into the syrup that
ends up on the table.
"It will be a lot of fun, a lot of
different stations, a lot of people
coming out," said Shaver's
Creek intern Stevie Smoot.
"There are lots of different
things for different interests."
Smoot said those attending
will learn hands-on how the his
tory of syrup making impacted
the area years ago, how to iden
tify trees, how to tap trees for
the sap using both modern and
traditional methods, and how to
boil the sap down into syrup in a
1800's-era sugar shack.
Collection of sap begins when
daytime temperatures rise at
least 5 degrees above freezing
and the sap of the maple trees
rises from to root of the tree to
provide food for the buds of the
tree. At night when the tempera
ture falls below freezing, the sap
returns back to the roots.
To collect the syrup today, one
drills a hole at a slight upward
angle, and places a spile an
insert that the sap runs through
into the hole. The sap flows
through the spile, into plastic
tubing, and into a jug. This
process, continues for only a few.
weeks from mid-February
through March.
On average, a single tap can
yield about a half-gallon of sap
per day. However, 40 gallons of
sap boil down to produce just
one gallon of syrup.
Not only will the festival place
emphasis on the process of mak
ing maple syrup, but also the
impact the process has a had on
past cultures.
Visitors will learn the Native
American method for making
maple syrup and presentations
in first person interpretation will
be given to demonstrate the role
of maple syrup in the 1800 s.
Tales of legend and folklore, tra
ditional costumes, as well as
bluegrass and folk music will
further transport visitors back in
time.
To top off the festival, there
will be a pancake buffet featur
ing pure maple syrup and
sausage locally produced by
Penn State's Sustainable Agri
culture Club.
"World famous pancakes, all
you can eat," said Shaver's
Creek Program Director George
Vahoviak "It's a chance to be in
a really pretty setting outdoors,
stepping back in history."
If you go
What The Annual Maple
Harvest Festival
When: All weekend, 11 a.m. to
4 p.m.
Where: Shavers Creek
Environmental Center
• ,•• Detallis,Theeventis free.
ARCADIA
by: Tom Stoppard
Modern-day scholars attempt to unearth the affairs
of their estate's past tenants.
March 22 April 9
Previews at 8:00 p.m., March 22 and 24
Evenings at 8:00 p.m., March 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, April 1,2, 5,6, 7,8, 9
Citizens Bank Theatre, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center
Pam Stare Sd,oo a( cure
Ticket Prices:
Previews: $lO.OO
General: $14.00 PENNSTATE
University Resnienc Theme r. nonparty For Into, call 814-863-0255 c ..l7\ P L,l ' Yu ' re
www.theatre.psu.edu
Buy Tixs Downtown, Eisenhower, HUB, or BIC