Maple Cotton Candy To Be Featured At Summit Event Sunday

SUMMIT, NJ — Instead of taking your family on a trip to the mountains of Vermont to go maple sugaring, you can head to a much closer Summit — that is, Summit, NJ, where the historic Reeves-Reed Arboretum hosts its annual Maple Sugar Fest each year.

This year's event will be held on March 1 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

During the event, organizers demonstrate how tree sap is turned into maple syrup. There will be tapping and cooking demonstrations, a scavenger hunt, games, and taste tests.

The event will also include the return of Maple Magic, a vendor that provides maple cotton candy.

The festival also will coincide with the opening of the first exhibit of the season in the Wisner House Gallery, COLOR – FLORA – FUSION, featuring the watercolor, ink and fabric collage works of Lucinda Knaus.

The event is family-friendly, but people can come alone too.

Director of Children's Education Jackie Kondel, along with environmental educators Althea Llewellyn, Marilyn Kelly, and Linda Price, head up a team of staff and volunteers who start the fires each year and heat up the hot cocoa.

The Arboretum advises attendees to wear boots and dress for the weather, as it's an outdoor event.

The "How Sweet It Is! Maple Sugar Fest," which is underwritten by Investors Savings Bank, is free to all RRA members and for kids 3 and under. Admission for nonmembers is $5 per person or $25 per family. Pre-registration is not required.

In case winter really shows up, the snow date is Sunday, March 8.

The Reeves-Reed Arboretum has celebrated more than 40 years as a historic public garden and education resource. It teaches the public about horticulture, environmental education, and the care and utilization of the gardens and estate.

It's open seven days a week from dawn 'til dusk and is listed on both the National and New Jersey State historic registers.

Funding for RRA has been made possible in part by the NJ Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State, through a grant administered by the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Dept. of Parks & Community Renewal.

For more information, visit the website at www.reeves-reedarboretum.org or call 908-273-8787 x 1010 or x 1515, or email j.kondel@reeves-reedarboretum.org.

Got Summit news or events? Email caren.lissner@patch.com.