Maple Fest set for this weekend at Red Oak Nature Center

Maple Fest returns this Saturday and Sunday, March 7 and 8, to the Fox Valley Park District’s Red Oak Nature Center, 930 N. River Road in North Aurora.

Maple Fest runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, with timed sessions beginning at the top of each hour. Admission is $5 for ages 3 and older, and advance online registration is encouraged, according to a press release from the district.

Anyone aged 3 and over must have a ticket to access a presentation time slot, organizers said. Each hour-long program begins indoors with a short presentation before guests head out onto the trails. There, participants learn how sap is collected and transformed through a painstaking and tedious process, according to the release.

“Customers will learn exactly where the syrup comes from,” Christy Graser, Red Oak’s facilities manager, said in the release. “People assume that the syrup comes straight from the trees and that’s not entirely true: you have to go through a process before you put it on your pancakes and waffles. We’re going to demonstrate this process with the help of guests.”

Guests can try drilling a tree, tapping it, then help carry sap buckets. An evaporator will be turned on on site, illustrating the transformation of sap into syrup, organizers said.

For those interested in tasting the results, refreshments will be available for purchase, including a three-sample flight featuring early and late season syrups from Runamok Maple, as well as a variety of barrel-aged whiskey.

For more information, visit the Fox Valley Park District website at https://www.foxvalleyparkdistrict.org/.

Historic event at the Oswego Museum

Oswego’s Little White School Museum will present a multimedia history lecture on Saturday, March 7, on two of the Oswegoland Park District’s premier natural areas, Saw Wee Kee and Waa Kee Sha parks.

The program, presented by museum coordinator Joe Noce, begins at noon at the museum located at 72 Polk St., according to a news release about the event.

Saw Wee Kee, Waa Kee Sha and their surrounding areas have long been more than just recreational sites and have a rich history dating back well before the arrival of the first American settlers, the release said. Participants will learn about the history of both parks, from Native American ownership to the site of some of the region’s largest mining operations.

Registration costs $5 for the program, with proceeds supporting operations of the Little White School Museum. To register in advance, call the Oswegoland Park District at 630-554-1010. Walk-ins on the day of the program are also welcome, according to the release.

For more information, call the museum at 630-554-2999 or email jnoce@oswegolandpd.org.

The Little White School Museum is a joint project of the Oswegoland Park District and the Oswegoland Heritage Association, a nonprofit organization.

Sons of the American Legion prepare breakfast in Yorkville

The Yorkville Sons of The American Legion will hold their monthly fundraising breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Sunday, March 8 at the Yorkville American Legion, 9054 E. Veterans Parkway in Yorkville.

The event’s buffet, open to the public, will include biscuits and gravy, pancakes, scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, tomato juice, orange juice, milk, coffee and an omelet station, organizers said.

The cost of breakfast is $12 for adults 18 to 54, $10 for those 55 and older and $8 for those 6 to 17, according to organizers. Children 5 and under eat free.