More sugar maple celebrations occur this March 23-24
At the end of February, Winter Hill was visited by Garrison School’s Green Team, a determined group of middle schoolers on a quest. Armed with power drills, stainless steel spouts and buckets, the students tapped a number of maple trees.
The Green Team, an elective led by Hudson Highland Land Trust’s River of Words educators Lisa Mechaley and Pete Salmansohn, is a community service group that focuses on environmental stewardship projects. In addition to collecting sap, the group is working in the Garrison School Forest, clearing trails and designing new markers (or blazes) that they will install later this year.
At Winter Hill, the students’ efforts were quickly rewarded with sweet-tasting sap. True to the group’s environmental mission, collected sap is picked up by New York State Parks staff and brought to the Taconic Outdoor Education Center’s sugar shack. In the spirit of collaboration, the HHLT’s neighbors at the Walter Hoving Home are assisting by emptying the buckets during the week.
Those who are not members of the Green Team can still participate in the region’s sugar maple celebrations.
The Hudson Highlands Nature Museum in Cornwall will offer Maple Sugar Tours on weekends through Sunday, March 24. For more information, visit their website, hhnaturemuseum.org, or call 845-534-5506, ext. 204.
The Little Stony Point Citizens Association in Cold Spring will hold its Maple Syrup Day on Sunday, March 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. More information can be found on their website.
