Maple syrup festival features Boy Scouts talents

March 19, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

Boardman Rotary hosts 35th maple syrup festival

BOARDMAN

Nearly everyone who adds maple syrup to their pancakes, waffles and other foods likely look forward to their meal without adding up the value of evaporator units, tap holes, hand braces and the “Rule of 86.”

“The sap goes into the water, which pushes the sugar to one end,” Pete Cordon explained while giving a brief demonstration of the process for producing maple syrup.

Cordon, Boardman Park’s grounds and maintenance supervisor, was on hand Saturday morning at the park as part of Boardman Rotary Club’s 35th annual Maple Syrup Festival and pancake breakfast in and next to the Lariccia Family Community Center.

The festival continues from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today as well as next Saturday and Sunday in the park.

Ideal weather conditions for extracting sap from maple and other trees includes high temperatures near 40 degrees, lows near 25 degrees and sunny conditions, Cordon noted, adding this year’s mild winter has allowed sap to stay in the trees longer. A result has been less sugar in syrup that comes from the taps, he added.

Cordon used a rectangular pan with a water valve and four troughs to show

the process of producing the syrup.

Hand braces, drills, buckets, tubing, storage tanks and gas-powered tappers are among the pieces of equipment needed to start extracting and producing maple syrup.

According to a Cornell University fact sheet, sap is concentrated to the desired sugar content during evaporation, which allows the material’s flavor and color to develop, as does certain chemical changes during heating.

The “Rule of 86” is a formula often used to calculate the quantity of sap required to produce one gallon of syrup. Specifically, it states the number of gallons of sap needed to make a gallon of syrup is equal to 86 divided by the percentage of sugar.

The pancake breakfast is one of the Boardman Rotary’s top fundraisers, along with the annual Oktoberfest every fall in the park, noted Jill Cox, an event co-chairwoman. Also assisting is Jenn Roberts.

About 3,000 people have attended the breakfast each year, a goal Cox said she hopes to meet or exceed this year. Most of the funds raised benefit area nonprofit agencies, though some money goes toward international endeavors, such as the effort to eradicate polio worldwide, she explained.

Local agencies and projects that benefit from the 61-year-old Boardman Rotary’s charitable efforts include Beatitude House, Boardman schools, Easter Seals, the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley, the Boardman branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, and Operation Warm, which provides coats to children, noted Celeste Lisko, the Rotary’s president.

This year, Rotarians are sponsoring 17 boys to attend a Boy Scout camp this summer, Lisko said, adding the organization also provides baskets to children in need during the Christmas holiday.

The festivities included members of Boardman-based Boy Scout Troop 60 sharing some of the skills they learned in scouting.

Early Saturday, troop members built a tent and tarpaulin, called a dining fly, with complementary wooden boxes for cooking, said Colin Russell, Troop 60’s patrol leader. One scout demonstrated his wood-splitting abilities with an ax in a roped-off area.

“Only one boy can be in there at a time,” said John Russell, the troop’s treasurer and Colin’s father.

The event also includes an auction to raise money for the troop’s expenses and supplies, the elder Russell added.

Several attendees also looked at artwork from students at Boardman Center Intermediate and Glenwood Junior High schools.

The idea was to give the youngsters another opportunity to showcase some of their talents, said Dan Slagle Jr., the park’s executive director.

“Boardman schools do a great job, so we’re glad to have then as part of our event,” Slagle said.