[Pancakes sizzling]
>>Laurie McLaughlin, Instructor, Maple Harvest Festival Coordinator: “We make over 10,000
pancakes over the course of the weekend…”
[Cook: “Hot cakes!”]
>>Laurie McLaughlin continued: “…three griddles cooking sausage and pancakes so they
can go through that line. And eat pancakes and sausage and homemade maple syrup that
we get from Southwestern Pennsylvania for our festival.”
[Cook: “Appreciate your patience.” Server: “Coming right up!”
Visitor: “Thanks for cooking!”]
>>Laurie McLaughlin, Instructor, Maple Harvest Festival Coordinator: “It is our springtime
festival at Shaver’s Creek that allows for the general public and folks in the Centre
Region to learn a little bit about the process of making maple syrup. From tree to table.”
[Mother: “Good job!”]
>>Laurie McLaughlin, Instructor, Maple Harvest Festival Coordinator: “It’s a very self-guided
day. So they can decide if they’re really hungry and they really want to eat pancakes
or they can start at the stations which are numbered 1 to 5 and that will take them through
the process of making maple syrup.”
[Actor: “Remember that neighbor that brought me the sumac? Well he had an accident and
he’s about half the man he used to be. So that’s why we have to put this on. So what
I’m gonna do is I’m gonna keep my drawing knife nice and level with the sumac, right?
And I’m just gonna nice and gently carve off the end of this.”]
[Student presenter: “We have an acronym called MAD Horse. It stands for Maple, Ash,
Dogwood and Horse Chestnut. Are the only kinds of local, native species that have opposite
branching.”]
[Kid: “Ohhhhhhh!”]
[Student presenter: “Can you see where that hole was? You know how, like your boo-boos
heal? The tree does that too so you can hardly tell that there was even one there.”]
>>Eric Burkhart, Plant Science Program Director, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center: “What
we’re looking at doing on this particular sugar bush is helping to create a classroom
not only for this event to be centered around but also that we can tie back to specific
classes that are occurring on campus within the forestry department and other departments.
So we’re making this as best as possible a real learning classroom for student involvement
as well as for the public to come and appreciate the kinds of things that are going on on site.”
[Student presenter: “Grade A as you can see, it has the lighter color.”]
Laurie McLaughlin, Instructor, Maple Harvest Festival Coordinator: “I hope they go away
with an appreciation for the process that it takes. It’s incredibly long. It takes
40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. So it’s time intensive, it’s very labor
intensive and it’s an art. It truly is.”
[Student presenter: “Mrs. Buttersworth, they’re saying has no real maple syrup in
it.”]
[sizzling sausage]
[Server: 3,000 hot cakes!”]
>>Shari Reed, Visitor: “The pancakes and sausage are delicious. My kids love them.
We love them and it’s really inexpensive fun. And you’re in nature.”
>>Jamie (Reporter): “What’s your favorite part about Maple Festival?”
>>Niki Page: “I have to say the pancakes are my favorite part. But just being up here.
We like to walk the trails. It’s beautiful. They do a great job keeping Shaver’s Creek
up. We didn’t catch a bird show this year, but the bird shows have been a favorite in
the past.”
[Student presenter with bird: “Here comes our next bird. Does anybody have any idea
what kind of hawk this is?”]
[Kid: “Cheese!”]
[Music Group singing “He’s got the whole world in his hands.”]
>>Jamie (Reporter): “Sean what would you say to someone clicking on this video trying
to decide if they should make the trip out to Shaver’s Creek for the Maple Harvest
Festival?”
>>Sean Page: “Hi! And make it out here!”
>> Laurie McLaughlin, Instructor, Maple Harvest Festival Coordinator: “You will not be disappointed.
It is one of my favorite times of the year. Being outside, sharing my love of maple syrup
and making syrup and being with others. It’s truly a great event.”
[Music group: “Whole world in his hands!”]
[Clapping.]