Weather, syrup team for sweet day at Sugar Bush Fair

More than 1,000 people visited Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg on Sunday to sample nature's sweet maple sugar during the 31st annual Sugar Bush Fair.

The Schaumburg Park District event featured demonstrations on syrup making, sap collecting methods used by American Indians and early pioneers, tree tapping, a pioneer sugar camp, children's puppet show and a hayride.

“It's been going incredible. This is the kind of weather that we hope for when we plan these kind of events,” said David Brooks, manager of conservation services at Spring Valley. “The theme is maple syrup. It is almost a uniquely American food product that comes directly from the trees. Since we are a nature center, this brings that stewardship of the Earth kind of connection home in a fun and tasty way.”

While volunteers quickly made large stacks of pancakes, a tent filled with visitors as they lined up to eat a delicious breakfast of pancakes with real maple syrup, sausage, juice and coffee in the nature center's Merkle Cabin.

The annual two-day event, sponsored by Whole Food Markets, was expected to draw about 1,800 people over the weekend.