Sugar Camp ~ Makin’ Maple Syrup

Program Description: We’ll be makin’ maple syrup the old fashioned way from Monday, February 24 thru Sunday, March 2 in Kenton County's Middleton-Mills Park.

Step back in time to experience life in the mid-1800’s in a backwoods pioneer sugar camp. We will be operating a working sugar camp, demonstrating the art and science of making maple syrup the old fashioned way. Mike Strohm will portray Elrod Tapper, an American pioneer settler, and will be dressed in clothing representative of the era, working with many of the tools and accoutrements used 150-200 years ago in frontier America. Dennis Flerlage, local old-time fiddler, will be on hand most days to entertain with folk songs of the era. A second camp will be set up nearby with Howard McDaniel as Hickory, providing participants an opportunity to help process sap water into hard sugar, using heated stones and wooden bowls, as Shawnee and Iroquis Indians would have done in the 1700’s.

Was living in ‘the olden days’ really a simpler time? You be the judge! Visitors will be encouraged to participate in many of the day-to-day Sugar Camp tasks. Gather and split wood for the fires. Learn about a spile and then help make one! Help tap Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) trees and be amazed as the sap starts to run right before your eyes! Drink sap water straight from the tree! Carry sap-water filled buckets back to camp and pour the contents into the copper kettles boiling on the fire. Use pastels to create artwork for jar labels. You’ll discover the immense amount of time and effort (not to mention the hard, physical WORK) that must be devoted to obtain maple syrup. But ‘back in the day’, it would have been worth it because maple syrup was the only natural sweetener available at the time.

And, here’s the best tastin’ part: Not only will you get to taste unrefined sweet sap water, you will also sample home-made maple syrup! Hey, does it get any better than that?

Program Provider: Kenton County Parks & Recreation
Grade Level: b) Kindergarten, c) 1st Grade, d) 2nd Grade, e) 3rd Grade, f) 4th Grade, g) 5th Grade, h) 6th Grade
Program Cost: Free

How much does the program cost?

Free

Program Provider Website: http://www.kentoncounty.org
Contact Person Name: Stevet Trauger
Contact Person Phone: 859-525-7529
Contact Person Email: [email protected]
Subject Matter: Animals, Animals - Live Animals, Art, Biology, Chemistry, Conservation, Energy, Environmental Health, Geology/Fossils, Gardening Agriculture and Soil, Habitat, History, Literature, Math, Physics, Plants, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Sustainable Design, Water Quality, Weather

Program Length: Over 1 hour
Maximum Number of Students: 60
Days Offered: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Times Offered: Flexible
State Content Standards Met:
Venue Needed: Off-Site Venue
Region: Greater Cincinnati Area