Local youngsters to tap sugar bush, enjoy sticky-sweet syrup at Merry Lea

WOLF LAKE, Ind. – Some 1,100 elementary students from 20 area schools and homeschool groups, along with their parents and teachers, will find environmental learning to be sugary-sweet at Sugar Bush 2010, sponsored by the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College. This day-long, hands-on experience in maple syrup making takes place at the Yoder Sugar Bush near Huntertown, Ind. The events are sponsored by the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College.

During their visit students participate in demonstrations that provide information about the history of syrup making, tree tapping, methods for collecting sap, woodcraft, the effects of weather on sap flow, and the process of boiling the sap into finished syrup. Most of the teaching stations feature hands-on experience in small groups. The program ends with a lunch of pancakes and sausage smothered in freshly made maple syrup.

Each year about 20 adult volunteers, mainly from the Fort Wayne area, assist with teaching, operating the sugar bush, and instructional support. Accompanying parents help to prepare the noon meal.

The 350-tap sugar bush, part of the Yoder family for four generations, produces about 150 gallons of syrup annually.

The 2010 schedule includes the following schools (with contact information):

Feb. 18 & 19 – Leo Elementary, Leo, Dorcas Curry, 260-446-0170
Feb. 20 – Scouts: Tiger Scouts #3419, Fort Wayne, Jean Graber, 260-435-8034
Feb. 23 & 24 – Holland Elementary, Fort Wayne, Joanne Montgomery, 260-425-7364
Feb. 25 & 26 – Lincoln Elementary, Fort Wayne, Nancy Caywood, 260-467-5400
Feb. 27 – Scouts: Boy & Girl Scouts, Indianapolis, Liz Fakhoury, 317-927-0453
March 1 – University of St. Francis, Fort Wayne, Trina Herber, 2260-399-7700
March 2 – Holy Cross Lutheran School, Fort Wayne, Michelle Koehlinger, 260-483-3173
March 3 – Concordia Lutheran School, Fort Wayne, Leann Gieschen, 260-426-9922
March 4 – Suburban Bethlehem Lutheran School, Fort Wayne, Peggy Zilz, 260-483-9371
March 4 – St. Joseph's Catholic School, Decatur, Michelle Miller, 260-724-2765
March 5 – Homeschool, Fort Wayne, Anne-Therese Peterson, 260-486-3434
March 8 – Homeschool: (NICHE) Northeast Indiana Catholic Home Educators, Auburn, Catherine Wyss, 260-925-4967
March 9 & 10 – Haley Elementary, Fort Wayne, Mary Swearingen, 260-467-4510
March 11 – Waterloo Elementary, Waterloo, Lana Young, 260-920-1016
March 11 – Gardeners of America, Fort Wayne, Linda Heavrin, 260-427-6424
March 12 – Most Precious Blood School, Fort Wayne, Pam Marx, 260-424-4832
March 12 – Central Lutheran Elementary, New Haven, Sandi Herman, 260-493-2502
March 13 – ACRES Land Trust, Huntertown, Shane Perfect, 260-637-2273 (adults)
March 15 – St. Peter's Lutheran School, Fort Wayne, John Westrem, 260-749-5811
March 16 – Blackhawk Christian Schools, Fort Wayne, Gwen Keaton, 260-493-7400
March 18 – Merry Lea Homeschool Series, Wolf Lake, Paul Steury, 260-799-5869
March 19 – Huntertown Elementary, Huntertown, Ruth Logar, 260-637-3181
March 20 – Merry Lea Sugar Bush Open House, Roberta Miller, 260-799-5869 (families)
March 22 – Pine Hills Learning Place, Fort Wayne, Michelle Mettert, 260-637-3197
March 23 – Canterbury School, Fort Wayne, Tom Meyer, 260-432-7776

Complete information about the program is available at www.goshen.edu/merrylea/sugar/maple.html. For more information, contact Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center at (260) 799-5869.

Merry Lea, 300 S. 500 W. in Noble County south of Wolf Lake, a natural sanctuary for northern Indiana's plants and animals, provides environmental education for people of all ages and a setting to recreate opportunities that benefit the human body and spirit without exploiting the land. Merry Lea, created with the assistance of the Nature Conservancy and the generosity of Lee A. and Mary Jane Rieth, is owned and operated by Goshen College. For more information, log on to www.goshen.edu/merrylea or call (260) 799-5869.

Editors: This program affords a rich opportunity for photographs and interviews. Because of differences in school policy, it is important that you contact, in advance, the teacher and principal of any school you wish to cover in order to arrange for permission to accompany the group and photograph the activities. For more information, contact Larry Yoder at (260) 799-5869.

###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.