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Thousands Enjoy Maple Sweetness at Annual Syrup Festival in North Park

By Mauricio Peña | March 22, 2015 3:55pm
 People learned the syrup-making process,  enjoyed crafts and a farmers market during the weekend event.
Annual Maple Syrup Festival
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NORTH PARK — Like a true maple-syrup lover, Sylvia Vitayaudom, 4, lingered at the tasting table enjoying sample after sample of the freshly made syrup at this weekend's Maple Syrup Festival.

"She loves syrup, and she loves pancakes," her mother Susanna Vitayaudom said.

The Logan Square mom almost didn't make it to the Nature Center Sunday because of the cooler-than-normal temperatures, but said that as soon as her kids found out the event centered on their favorite breakfast topping, they bundled up.

The Vitayaudom family were among thousands of people that visited the annual Maple Syrup Festival at North Park Village Nature Center on Saturday and Sunday to see how syrup is made.

For more than 20 years, the non-profit organization has been hosting the festival, drawing more visitors to learn about the syrup-making process every year, said Maggie Hart president of Friends of North Park Village Nature Center.

"On Saturday, we had about 2,200 people come to the festival, and by the end of the weekend we expect a total of 5,000 people to stop by," Hart added.

Throughout the weekend, volunteers, staff members and interns walked people of all ages through the syrup-making process from tapping the trees to collecting sap, to boiling of the sap, and finally tasting the freshly-made maple syrup.

It starts with tapping the sugar maple trees by boring a hole and installing a tap, or spile, and collecting enough sap — at least 40 gallons — before the boiling process can begin, intern Conner Keeffe explained. 

After boiling 40 gallons of sap for five hours, the sap caramelizes, producing one gallon of maple syrup, Keeffe said.

"It's a lengthy process," Keeffe said.

In addition to the glimpse into the syrup-making process, the free festival also offered a crafts center, pioneer reenactors, story tellers and a farmers market and a two man saw to make tree cookies.

Jo Hsu, 41, of Morton Grove, brought her daughter, Tiffany Lai, 9, who recently learned about the maple syrup-making process in school.

"This is wonderful, I thought we'd have to go to Wisconsin for something like this," Hsu said.

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