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Maple syrup sales benefit Mill Creek Park, West Side projects
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YOUNGSTOWN
The Rocky Ridge Neighbors made their annual batch of maple syrup – produced from Mill Creek MetroParks’ sugar maple trees – that is now available to the public.
The locally produced syrup is available for $15 a bottle and can be purchased at the gift shop at Fellows Riverside Gardens, 123 McKinley Ave.
This year, the West Side volunteers produced 387 bottles of syrup from a 26-gallon yield for the season.
Each year, the neighborhood group invests half of the annual revenue from the syrup sale back into park programs. The other half of the proceeds generally has gone toward various neighborhood projects and organizations, such as creating art installations and sponsoring local baseball teams.
Proceeds from this year’s sale will go toward the new Michael Kusalaba branch library, which is under construction on Mahoning Avenue.
The annual bottling began after members from the neighborhood group went on a hike through the park that ended in the sugar maple grove.
A group member pitched the idea to use the trees to produce syrup and sell it to help the park, and the practice was born. The grove is near McCollum and Bear’s Den roads.
The 135 trees were planted in 1951.
This year, the syrup was cooked in the basement of St. Patrick Church on the South Side.
Mark Dolak, one of the most experienced and active of the maple producers, said despite the sap flows being disrupted by an unexpectedly warm week in February, he was pleasantly surprised by the production, which was up from 300 bottles last year.