WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Massachusetts maple production season is underway and an annual local celebration for the tasty syrup was held Saturday.

Storrowton Village Museum at The Big E celebrated Maple Harvest Day on Saturday afternoon. And that means visitors got to learn how the “liquid gold” is made. This event helps to highlight the history and tradition of maple sugaring in New England.

“We’re doing some open cauldron boiling of the maple sap, so the process is really the same today, except it’s done with tubes and stainless steel. We’re taking the sap from the tree and cooking it down to reduce the amount of water, and increase the concentration of sugar,” said Dennis Picard of Westfield.

To honor the history and educate those who came, the historic Gilbert Farmhouse turned into a sugarhouse for the day. People got to see the process from tree tapping to sap boiling, and watch 19th century open hearth cooking demonstrations of maple recipes.

Here at ‘Maple Harvest Day’ everything is about maple syrup. There’s people learning the history of it, seeing how it’s made, and literally seeing it trickle out of the tree, but the best part, tasting it on top of some pancakes. The West Springfield Lions Club served a pancake breakfast with all proceeds being donated to Storrowton’s educational programs.

And of course the pancakes were made with pure New England maple syrup, meaning a busy and happy crowd.

John Leary, the Vice President of the West Springfield Lions Club told 22News, “Today we have a very good crowd. Last year we had right around one-hundred and fifty, but this year should be around 225 to 250 and everybody seems to be enjoying themselves.”

The Lions Club told 22News that they look forward to continuing this tasty tradition in the years to come.