LOOK: Maple Sugaring Celebration Returns to Sewickley Heights

The annual Maple Sugaring Celebration and Pancake Breakfast on Saturday drew visitors from all over the area to Fern Hollow Nature Center.

Sam Capezzuto, executive director, said there were a lot of new faces and walk-ins at the seventh annual event.

The maple sugaring celebration is held in each year in early March, when the days are warm but the nights are still freezing, allowing maple syrup producers to tap the trees and collect the sap inside.

Visitors feasted Saturday on pancakes drowned in maple syrup, but the sweet syrup wasn't produced at Fern Hollow because there isn't enough to supply the entire breakfast.

April Claus, director of environmental education at Fern Hollow, said the combination of warm days and cold nights are important to get the sap flowing, but recent weather complicated that process.

"Whether the sap is running is completely at the mercy of Mother Nature," Claus said.

Sewickley has a much deeper connection to maple syrup, which was discovered by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. Claus said the Native Americans referred to the sap that flowed out of the maple trees as "sweet water."

"That's what Sewickley means," she said.

Infromation on the maple sugaring process was available for visitors, along with related crafts, games, raffles and the adjacent Sewickley Heights History Center which was open for tours during the event.

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