The Hunterdon County Parks and Recreation Division opened the 2022 Spring Season with an in-person Maple Sugaring Event at Echo Hill Park for the first time in three years Hunterdon County Commissioner Board Deputy Director Zachary T. Rich reported at the April 19th Board meeting.
Deputy Director Rich, the Board’s Parks and Recreation liaison, said, “Over 100 people participated in an interactive living history event in celebration of Hunterdon’s ‘sweetest’ time of the year. The participants cooked the maple sap collected from the park’s very own grove of maple trees known as a ‘sugar bush.’”
The season to make maple syrup in Hunterdon extends from early February to mid-March and is known as ‘sugaring season.’ The Parks Division, along with the public, collected about 300 gallons of maple sap throughout the month of February, ending the season with the Maple Sugaring event.
Dan Bush, the Parks and Recreation Division head, said, “Included in the day’s event was a visit with one of the local naturalists, a story telling of the North American traditions involving the discovery of this ‘sweet water,’ the history of the process, and a fully operational sugar shack.”
“While this program was always well received and attended before the pandemic, it was still a welcome relief to have an in-person recreation program, with the hope that such programming can become the norm again.
The Parks and Recreation Division has tirelessly provided virtual programs since March of 2020, when in person events were put on hold, and will continue to make programs available for those who have health restrictions,” Rich concluded.
For Parks and Recreation programs, click here or call 908-782-1158, Monday through Friday during regular business hours, 8 am to 4:30 pm, with any questions.
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