The Geauga County Maple Festival will officially become a centenarian this year, celebrating 100 years of bringing its sweet traditions and community spirit to the historic Chardon Square while giving a nod to its early days April 23-26.
The Geauga County Maple Festival will officially become a centenarian this year, celebrating 100 years of bringing its sweet traditions and community spirit to the historic Chardon Square while giving a nod to its early days April 23-26.
Though this year represents the festival’s centennial, it is technically the 95th event. The festival was canceled for two years during World War II, once due to a poor syrup season and twice during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Maple Festival Director Jen Freeman.
“It was very barren early on,” she said, reflecting on the festival’s beginnings.
Early festivals featured historical syrup-making displays, music, oxen pulls, sheep-shearing contests, a twins contest, celebrations honoring couples married 50 years, a parade and maple stirs, she said.
“There wasn’t all the food and there wasn’t rides and all the stuff that goes on now,” she said. “It’s definitely evolved over the years.”
Some events, however, have remained constant, including the maple contest and lumberjack competition, which have been part of the festival since its inception, Freeman said.
“They used to just do basic cross-cutting and chopping and stuff like that,” she said.
There has always been some form of a pageant, Freeman said, while Entertainment Director Ron Spangenberg noted a syrup auction has also been a staple since the beginning.
The festival’s origins stem from a group of merchants who wanted their syrup to fetch a higher price, Freeman said.
“It brought folks to farmers, essentially,” she said. “Farmers could gather at one place up at the festival and sell syrup for a higher value and bring customers out to them.”
Organizers of the first festival expected a crowd of 2,000 to 3,000 people but were met with about 15,000 attendees, Spangenberg said.
“Then, they knew they had something,” he said. “And that’s why this festival is going all these years.”
Freeman credited volunteers and the community for sustaining the festival over the past century.
“There is something about the maple community,” she said. “It’s a tight-knit community, it’s well supported, even though there’s a bunch of people who make syrup, they’re not competitors, they work together for things, for the greater good.”
“We’ve lucked out with the volunteers. We’ve got just wonderful people,” Spangenberg added.
For many board members, involvement in the festival spans generations, Freeman said.
“Their parents and grandparents all were on the board, in syrup, and they grew up in that and they want to continue that tradition,” she said.
The festival also serves as an annual gathering for the community, Freeman said, noting many in the maple industry reconnect there each year.
“I’ve got a 12-year-old, he is crawling out of his seat, he doesn’t understand why they’re not setting up right now,” she said.
Many residents carry fond childhood memories of the event, Freeman said, recalling a local cashier who shared memories of participating in the parade 30 years ago.
“I’ve attended most festivals since 1969. That’s when my family moved here,” Spangenberg said. “I have to say, it’s Chardon’s identity. Every year, every spring, the first festival of the year in Ohio happens in Chardon.”
As winter fades and warmer weather arrives, the festival offers a chance for people to get outdoors and gather, he said.
“I think that’s been the draw since the very beginning,” Spangenberg said.
This year’s festival will blend tradition with new additions and the return of past favorites, he said.
“We had a centennial committee going through all the festivals (in the) past to look for key notes,” Spangenberg said. “One of the things that came up was, in the beginning, there was a lot more stuff going on as far as contests.”
Among the returning events is a bubblegum blowing contest, which Freeman said she remembers from the 1980s. It is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday on the entertainment stage and will be open to children.
“That was a super fond memory of mine,” she said. “I encouraged that one to come back.”
Annual favorites such as pizza and pancake eating contests will also return, Spangenberg said.
New this year is a sap relay race, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday on Main Street, in which participants will run water from one end to the other, filling a sap bucket, Freeman said.
A scavenger hunt will also be held, with completed entries eligible for a prize drawing, she said.
The festival will feature a historical display by Jerry Tvergyak highlighting maple production in the region, Freeman added.
“People keep donating stuff to it if they find old stuff on their properties,” she said. “He’s got old sets of pans, he’s got an old cauldron there that he has a fire underneath, he shows the primitive method — which Native Americans would have used — where he heats up rocks and throws them into the liquid.”
In keeping with the festival’s 1920s theme, several musical acts will feature period-inspired performances, Spangenberg said.
Word of Mouth will open Thursday night with 1920s music. Paul Kovac and Carrie King will perform folk music Friday morning in the pancake tent. Friday evening will feature the Chardon Polka Band and bluegrass band Ohio Crossroads, which also plans to incorporate 1920s music, he said.
SELLEENA, a Pennsylvania-based band that frequently performs in the Cleveland area, will headline Saturday night, he added.
Burton-based clown Cracker Jack will make his festival debut with a magic show Saturday afternoon and balloon-twisting on Saturday and Sunday, Spangenberg said.
Descendents of festival founder Art Carlson will serve as grand marshals of Saturday’s parade, Freeman said.
“Her daughter reached out to us and said who she was,” Freeman said, noting the family now lives in North Carolina. “And said that they’d love to come up for the 100th anniversary. They’re so excited to come up and do this.”
Returning staples include pancakes, maple stirs, live music, the parade, the lumberjack competition, kiddie tractor pulls and bathtub races, Freeman and Spangenberg said.
When asked what she is most excited about, Freeman replied, “All of it. The whole thing.”
