Page Farm and Home Museum Plans Maple Syrup Fest April 5
Contact: Elyse Dinan, 581-4100, George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — The Page Farm and Home Museum at UMaine is celebrating Maine Maple Sunday on Saturday, April 5, this year, and invites area children and their families to join in the fun.
Events are planned from 1-3 p.m. The day begins with the video “The Maple Sugaring Story” at the Page Farm and Home Museum on the Orono campus. Grade K-6 children can participate in learning activities, play games and hear stories about one of Maine’s oldest traditions and seasonal business enterprises begun by Native Americans centuries ago.
The afternoon events will move to the University of Maine maple sugaring operation on College Avenue Extension for a guided walking tour of the sugar bush, where the maple sugaring story begins, and a tour of the sugarhouse, where sweet maple sap is rendered to maple syrup through the evaporation process. Children can enjoy a sample of the fresh syrup straight from the evaporator.
“We will have a ‘sugar-on-snow’ party, like the early settlers of Maine,” says Patricia Henner, director of the farm and home museum.
A $4 per child reimbursement fee for materials used in the exercises is requested. Since space is limited, pre-registration is requested. Call 581-4100 for information or to register. Children must be chaperoned.