Maple Sugar Festival at Hale Farm and Village -- Bath, OH

On March 20 Dave and I went to Hale Farm and Village for the yearly Maple Sugar Festival. We had attended the event last year and had a fun time, so we decided to head to Hale Farm for year two.

The event starts with a pancake breakfast, we skipped over the sausage since we're vegetarians and grabbed some fruit instead. This year the pancake breakfast was sponsored by Acme.

It was lightly snowing most of the morning, so we bundled up and headed out to walk the grounds after breakfast. We had been told that a rifle shooting demonstration was starting in a few minutes so we went over to view the demonstration in a camp behind the Pioneer Cabin.

The man handling the demonstration was a frequent historical war reenactor; he talked about topics from loading the gun to gun safety with historical weapons. 

From the gun demonstration we went to the Maple Sugaring Camp to learn about making maple syrup. It takes 40 gallons of maple sap to create 1 gallon of maple syrup!

On the back of the maps Hale Farm Gave us was the hashtag #IHeartHale with instructions to use it for photo ops throughout the grounds. Hale Farm was going to choose a randomized winner from the #IHeartHale photos during the Maple Sugar Festival weekend to win tickets for an event they're holding later this year. 

We decided to head across the way to see Hale Village and some of the demonstrations which were going on over on the "village" half of the grounds.

One of our favorite stops at Hale Village is the glassblowing shop and demonstration. The woman who does the glassworking is very knowledgeable about her craft and is fantastic at explaining what she is doing with the glass project and why. She also happily fields questions throughout her demonstration. On this day she was crafting a clear paperweight with a white and blue core. 

After viewing the glassblowing demonstration, we walked around the rest of the village and visited each building. 

These stove models were delivered to General Stores so that housewives could go to the general store to view the models and their features before ordering the full model for their home.

The volunteers at Hale Farm are all dressed in period costume. The day we went to the Maple Sugar Festival was cold and snowy, I'm unsure if their costumes were an advantage or disadvantage in the chilly weather. 

The chapel is always a beautiful sight on the grounds. It would be a beautiful backdrop for wedding photos.

Next we visited where thread is made; a large part of the dish clothes and the rugs used in buildings throughout the grounds are created on a loom in the village. 

Next we learned about candle making...

On our way out we did stop by the Ox Barn to see if the oxen were there, but they were out, possibly at another demonstration? We saw the oxen last year and were blown away at the sheer size of them.

Despite the very cold weather during our visit we enjoyed our second annual trip to Hale Farm and Village for the Maple Sugar Festival. There are locations all throughout Ohio that host Maple Sugar Festivals throughout the month of March. I appreciate that at Hale Farm and Village's Festival there is an opportunity to enjoy a pancake breakfast before walking the grounds to learn about the maple syrup making process.

My rating for the Maple Sugar Festival at Hale Farm and Village: