The Senate House State Historic Site has announced a celebration of maple season, set for Saturday, April 6th, 2019, from 11 am to 3 pm. Activities include boiling maple sap to syrup, making jack wax candy, baking molasses cornbread and waffles over an open fire, hewing a log into a trough and making wooden buckets and spiles which were used to collect the sap.
Collecting maple sap and boiling it down to syrup has had a long tradition in North America. Native Americans in the northeast collected sap and boiled it to syrup to sweeten their food. European learnedto process the sap from the Native Americans. It was used as a sweetener, in place of expensive cane sugar, in a variety of foods including oatmeal, waffles, sausage, and baked goods.
The First Ulster Militia will re-enact a raid on the sugar bush. Mark Rust will perform traditional 18th century music on a variety of musical instruments including banjo, violin, guitar and spoons. The event is free and open to the public. The site is located on Fair St. in uptown Kingston.
Senate House State Historic Site is part of a system of parks, recreation areas and historic sites operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and is one of 28 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information about this and other upcoming events, call the site at (845) 338-2786 or visit their website.
Photo of the Senate House State Historic Site provided.
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