Sugar Maple Festival

I love festivals! There is something that makes me so proud of Ohio’s agricultural heritage when I walk around these small town festivals. It’s almost like I’ve stepped back into a Norman Rockwell painting where everyone knew their neighbors and there was a great sense of community.
The Sugar Maple Festival occurs each spring, this year April 16 – 18. For a small town, the Sugar Maple Festival is a good sized festival. Because of this, parking is limited. We didn’t see any dedicated parking so we parked at a market a few blocks back and walked the short walk over.
It looks like the festival is divided into 3 sections. One street had all food (try the hot dogs at the fire department booth. Especially if you like spicy!), the park where there are children’s activities and live music, and the craft booths and vendors. I wasn’t too impressed with the vendors. Most of them were not local and there were even booths selling knock off designer purses! Next to the police department building!
The fire department was giving a demonstration on how they respond to accidents, using the jaws of life to take the top off of a car. It was pretty interesting to watch and hear the narrator talk about what the responders do in a situation like that and what they are looking to do to make sure they save lives.
It was a good time and I’d definitely love to go back and see the parade next year. And best of all, admission is free!