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Brooke park, farm part of Maple Days

WELLSBURG — Those who love the taste of real maple syrup or maple sugar and would like to know more about how they’re made are encouraged to visit Family Roots Farm on Saturday.

Located off Genteel Ridge and state Route 27 a few miles from Wellsburg, the farm is among many, including Brooke Hills Park and the Barn With Inn bed and breakfast, observing West Virginia Maple Days.

Located on a farm on Bealls Ridge Road, also off Route 27, the bed and breakfast has offered a 20 percent discount to visitors this weekend.

And the park will be serving up pancakes from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at its clubhouse. The cost is $6 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased that day or in advance at the park’s clubhouse, the Brooke County West Virginia University Extension Service and Mark’s Carry Out.

The breakfast will coincide with the park’s Winter Market, with many area vendors selling a variety of locally made items.

Visitors to the Family Roots Farm will be invited into the Sugar Shack, a 40 by 40 foot building where the Farrises and the Herveys, the farm’s owners, produce maple syrup, maple sugar and other products that also will be available to sample or purchase.

There also will be activities for children at the building and an outdoor scavenger hunt in which visitors of all ages may learn how the products originate from hundreds of taps into the farm’s many maple trees.

Charlie and Brittney Farris and Fred and Cathy Hervey, Brittney’s parents; had been producing maple syrup for themselves for some time before they decided to start the business on their 247-year-old farm.

They are among a growing number of maple syrup producers in West Virginia.

Established in 2012, the West Virginia Syrup Producers Association is comprised of 30 members and focused on promoting research and education supporting the production of a variety of maple-related products.

According to state Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt, last year maple producers tapped 48,000 trees, boiling their sap into about 6,000 gallons of pure syrup.

“If the industry continues to grow, West Virginia could become an economic force in the maple industry,” he said.

Leonhardt tapped into a tree at the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s Guthrie Agricultural Center in Charleston to kick off Maple Days.

The observance includes events throughout the state, including free tours at many of the state’s maple farms and Oglebay Park’s annual Maple Sugaring Day, to be held March 25.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)

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