Make Your Own Maple Syrup at Sundown Supper in the Sugar Bush

Get a taste of what farm life was like in late winter during the 1880s when Spring Valley Nature Center, 1111 E. Schaumburg Road, presents Sundown Supper in the Sugar Bush from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 21.

Maple sap usually begins to run this time of year, provided the proper weather conditions prevail. Ideal conditions for sap to rise include below-freezing temperatures at night and just above freezing temperatures during the day, said Dave Brooks, conservation services manager at Spring Valley.

If Mother Nature cooperates, visitors to the Schaumburg Park District event will get a chance to learn first-hand how syrup is made. They'll tap trees, gather sap in buckets and tend the boil-down. Tree sap must be boiled for hours to yield a sugary syrup.

"So, they get to see the whole process, from start to finish, in terms of making syrup," Brooks said.

Afterwards, the group will retreat to the Merkle Cabin for a supper of pancakes topped with maple syrup.

Visitors will meet in the Plum Grove parking lot.

Brooks said the event, a prelude to the Sugar Bush Fair in mid-March, teaches participants about nature on a smaller, more intimate scale. He said the program can accommodate a total of about five families.

The cost is $30 for residents and $45 for non-residents per family of four. The cost for each additional resident family member is $7.50; for non-resident additional family members the cost is $10.75.

Pre-registration is required. For more information, call 847-985-2100 or visit www.parkfun.com.