Sweetness will still be lingering in the air days after Valentine’s Day.
But that smell isn’t the sweet whiff of gifted chocolates: It’s maple syrup.
The scent of maple syrup will soon fill the air at Dawes Arboretum from noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 22 on Jacksontown Road in Newark during its 60th annual Dawes Maple Syrup Day, attracting hundreds of visitors of all ages.
The previous year, more than 300 people—mostly families with children— attended the event, said Beth Spieles, the learning and engagement educator and interpretive coordinator at Dawes Arboretum.
The event allows visitors to learn about maple trees, the history of maple syrup production and the surrounding nature in a region where syrup has been made since 1919.
Visitors will be able to witness a couple of tapped sugar maple trees and see the flow of their sap. The Arboretum no longer uses the sap to produce syrup, but only for demonstrations due to declining maple tree health. The practice has been paused since 2018, but through various activities, visitors can still explore the tradition of maple syrup production upheld by Indigenous people, pioneers and the founding Dawes family.
The founders of the arboretum, Beman and Bertie Dawes, were conservationists who purchased the property and founded Dawes Arboretum in 1929 to research and plant trees, reflecting their concern about deforestation. In 1919, the family began extracting maple syrup from sugar maple trees, which they gave as gifts to friends and relatives and did not sell commercially, Spieles said.
The Dawes family later opened the maple syrup activities to the public as an event in 1966, aiming to engage people in understanding and conserving natural resources while educating visitors about trees through the tradition of maple syrup. The tradition continues today, celebrating the history of maple trees and educating the public.
Activities featured at the event include a guided historical walking tour along the Maple Syrup Trail, tree tapping demonstrations, and syrup tastings—featuring maple syrup from Winding Trails Maple Syrup in neighboring Utica, Ohio, maple syrup from Vermont, hickory syrup from Pennsylvania, as well as store-bought varieties from local retailers—at the arboretum’s iconic log cabin, which has been on the property since the 1920s, Spieles said.
This year’s event also includes new activities such as crafts inside the visitor center, a historical photo slideshow from the arboretum’s archives featuring images from Dawes Maple Syrup Day over the past 60 years, and educational displays explaining why maple tree tapping and syrup production stopped, how climate change affects maple trees, how to care for any maple trees people have at home, along with discussions of how Beman Dawes’ staff produced syrup in the 1920s.
Staff members at the event will be dressed in period costumes reflecting the attire worn by those who worked on the Dawes family property, making maple syrup, coordinated by the arboretum’s historian, using photographs from the archives, Spieles said.
Another addition this year is a food truck, Sips & Sticks Co., which will be on-site selling waffles on a stick. Aside from the gift shop, food truck and admission fee —$10 for adults, $5 per child and free for children younger than 5—all other activities, including parking, are free.
Donna Chang writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.