The Maple Syrup Festival at the Indian Creek Nature Center near Cedar Rapids will mark its 40th year this weekend.
The Nature Center’s Jean Wiedenheft says in the early days they tapped mostly boxelder trees for the sap that was boiled outdoors. “In the 80s we built the maple sugar house, so we moved our boiling process inside. And there’s room in there for people to come in and learn about the process,” she says. “And then we’ve also expanded the trees we tap so we tap a lot of our silver Maples down in the floodplain and then we also tap a number of sugar maples.”
Wiedenheft says they have been tapping trees for a while now. “it has been a magical year for that. These chilly nights — and then the days have been warm — so some of our trees have been giving us six gallons of sap a day,” she says. Wiedenheft says some years they only get a gallon or two of sap from a tree. But everything has fallen into place this year. “We haven’t had a lot of sun, but if the temperatures are right, the trees are flowing anyway,” she says.
The festival runs from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. both days. The chance to taste real maple syrup has become a big draw and fundraiser. “It’s one of our major events to give people an opportunity to come out and be involved. So….for adults, it’s ten dollars in advance and 12 dollars at the door. For children, it’s five dollars in advance in six dollars at the door and children three and under are free. I is a significant event for us both in terms of getting people out here and fundraising to keep our operation going year-round,” Wiedenhef says.
She says they can have 2,500 to 3,000 people show up for the pancake and sausage breakfast that includes the real maple syrup.
“We do demonstrations on how to make maple syrup. You know how the pioneers did it, how we do it here. We have wise music going. We have pancakes with the syrup we make,” she says. ” So this year, we’ll be serving some of the syrup from this year we’ll be serving some of the syrup from last year. And there’s fun games and activities for kids.”
Wiedenheft says you can purchase tickets ahead of time at indiancreeknaturecenter.org.