If you’re a fan of Diane Harto & Jim Stadtlander’s Woodcarved Art Gallery, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to see them in action!
It’s hands-on, educational, inspirational and celebrational as we welcome spring and the maple sugaring season with this annual event that will feature this incredibly talented Portage County team of wood carvers.
Bring your family and friends out to Geauga Park District’s Sap’s-A-Risin’ for a taste of how maple sugaring has evolved since the Native Americans, then a taste of the sticky stuff itself.
What: Sap’s-A-Risin’
When: Sundays, March 9, 16 and 23 – Noon to 4 p.m.
Where: Swine Creek Reservation, 16004 Hayes Road
Middlefield/Parkman Townships
Guests are always excited for this free experience. Enjoy historical interactions with costumed interpreters, gather sap during a stroll through the sugar bush, see and learn how sap is boiled in the sugarhouse’s evaporator, enjoy a sample taste of syrup, then warm up in the lodge with live music, woodcarving demonstrations, maple stirs, and maple popcorn.
Geauga Park District’s sugar house was built in 1983 on a 32-acre sugar bush thanks to the inspiration of former Park Board member Mark Sperry, a staunch believer in public education. This Genuine Geauga experience has become a memorable family tradition for many, drawing an average 400 people each day.
For others, Sap’s-A-Risin’ has been known to change their entire outlook on March. Naturalist Judy Bradt-Barnhart herself admits, “I really didn’t like the month of March because it was dreary and cold and I had spring on my mind. But once I started maple sugaring, it just got in my blood, and I just love sugaring season now – it gives me something to look forward to before spring arrives.”
Each day the lodge also features wood carving demonstrations and sales with Jim Stadtlander and Diane Harto, maple treats and live music: the New Real String Band (old-time country and string band music featuring hammered dulcimer, banjo, fiddle, guitar, etc.) on March 9; Al Bonnis & The Sugarhouse Serenaders (country, blues, contemporary folk music, etc., on guitars, bass, etc., with superb singing) on March 16; and Pure Quill featuring Dave and Barb Partington (Appalachian and British Isles songs and tunes on hammered dulcimer, guitar and banjo) on March 23.
Registration is not required for this program. The lodge, history trail and sugarhouse are fully wheelchair/stroller accessible, but sap gathering is off trail.
Call 440-286-9516 with questions about Sap’s-a-Risin’.
Visit Diane and Jim’s Facebook page and see the incredible carvings they have pictured along with the work of many of their students.
They offer both weekend workshops and regular classes. Sign up now for their next workshop held March 1 and 2 to create this beautiful rose box lid!
330-274-2671
2881 Frost Rd., Mantua, OH 44255