Maple Syrup Fair Time in Parke County, Indiana

This is the season for tapping maple trees for syrup, and while Vermont is the nation's big maple syrup producer, other regions produce it, too.

This weekend and next, Parke County in western Indiana celebrates its maple syrup producers with the 48th annual Maple Syrup Fair. Rebbecca Pefley is one of those maple syrup producers. Her great-grandfather started the Smiley Sugar Camp, which --- thanks to her grandson --- is now a fifth-generation family business. Pefley said there is a big difference between real maple syrup, and the cheaper syrup most people put on their pancakes.

"What you buy in the grocery store is just mostly Karo or corn syrup, and with some slight amount of maple syrup in it," Pefley said. "But what you get here in Parke County, and what we make is 100% pure. It has nothing added. It is just the sugar water boiled down to the syrup stage".

Besides the big difference between real and artificial maple syrup, Pefley said there is a difference between Indiana maple syrup and the better-know Vermont product, noting that her syrup is a little milder.

In all, five local maple syrup camps will be selling their product at the Parke County Maple Syrup Fair. Cathy Harkrider of Parke County Inc. said she expects attendance over the two weekends to total around 8,000 to 10,000, depending on the weather. Maple syrup will be on sale, to take home or pour on pancakes right at the fair. Directions will be available to visit local maple syrup camps, to see how the syrup is made. In addition, the Parke Players will present their production of "Nunsense" in conjunction with the Maple Syrup Fair, at Rockville's Ritz Theater.

The 48th Annual Parke County Maple Syrup Fair takes place Saturday and Sunday, February 26-27 and March 5-6, at the 4-H Fairgrounds on U-S Route 41 near Rockville, Indiana. Pancakes will be served each day from 8 AM until 4 PM.