Collecting maple sap and boiling it down to syrup has had a long tradition in North America. Native Americans in the northeast first collected the sap and boiled it to syrup to sweeten their food. When European colonists arrived, they learned how to process the sap from the Native Americans. It was used as a sweetener, in place of expensive cane sugar, in a variety of foods including oatmeal, waffles, sausage, and baked goods.

Join the staff of Senate House State Historic Site on Saturday April 7, 2018 from 11am-3pm to celebrate the maple season. Activities include boiling maple sap to syrup, making jack wax candy, baking molasses cornbread and waffles over an open fire, hewing a log into a trough and making wooden buckets and spiles which were used to collect the sap. The First Ulster Militia will re-enact a raid on the sugar bush. Mark Rust will perform traditional 18th century music on a variety of musical instruments including banjo, violin, guitar and spoons. He will even let you try your hands at playing one of the instruments. A free event that the whole family will enjoy!