Bringing maple syrup to the masses
Robert Burns demonstrates the modern evaporating of sap to make maple syrup during Maple Madness at Succop Nature Park in Penn Township on Saturday, March 26, 2022. Groups were led on park tours, learning about maple sugaring throughout history. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 3/26/22
Maple syrup and maple sugar went from being a rarely enjoyed commodity to being a common purchase during the weekly trip to the grocery store.
Collection of the syrup in many of its forms was demonstrated Saturday at Succop Nature Park, where members of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania showed visitors how they could collect their own maple syrup from trees right in their backyards.
The journey of the production of maple syrup began at the first station at the park, which showed how Native Americans would have gathered maple sugar from trees in the spring.
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Scouts Finn Thornton, 12, and Wyatt Broaded, 13, demonstrate how early settlers in the area used to make syrup during Maple Madness at Succop Nature Park in Penn Township on Saturday, March 26, 2022. Groups were led on park tours, learning about maple sugaring throughout history. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 3/26/22
Bella Cutruzzula, Kristine Alexander, Jaycob Alexander, 9, and Melody Wymer, of Westmoreland County, watch Nyland McLaughlin, 8, try to transfer a rock with antlers during a demonstration of how native Americans used to make syrup during Maple Madness at Succop Nature Park in Penn Township on Saturday, March 26, 2022. Groups were led on park tours, learning about maple sugaring throughout history. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 3/26/22
Jaycob Alexander, 9, and Kristine Alexander, of Westmoreland County, look at maple syrup for sale during Maple Madness at Succop Nature Park in Penn Township on Saturday, March 26, 2022. Groups were led on park tours, learning about maple sugaring throughout history. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 3/26/22
Leonidas Maier, 8, and Annette Maier, of Ellwood City, listen to Robert Burns demonstrate the modern evaporating of sap to make maple syrup during Maple Madness at Succop Nature Park in Penn Township on Saturday, March 26, 2022. Groups were led on park tours, learning about maple sugaring throughout history. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 3/26/22
