The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Sweet fun awaits all at Maple Festival
Take it from a guy who knows: The Geauga County Maple Festival rarely has the pick of the litter as far as the weather goes.
“I can’t remember the last time there was nice weather for all four days of the Maple Festival,” said Mike Tvergyak, a member of the board that organizes the event.
Tvergyak, who began working with the folks who produce the first fair of the year back in the early 70s, said attendance depends heavily on Mother Nature.
“Like any outdoor event, you gotta have good weather,” he said April 25 under cover of a festival vendor tent, where merchants prepared their wares and sought shelter from the lousy weather outside.
One such vendor — Chardon Township resident Margie Robie — said about 3 p.m. April 25 she was “bummed” about the latest forecast.
“We were supposed to be in the 50s and 60s on Saturday,” she said as she prepped her display, Sunshine Sales. “Now we’re getting 30s and 40s and rain on Friday night and Saturday. “So we’re a little bummed.”
The festival is scheduled from April 26 to 29 on Chardon Square.
Robie said she and her vending spot have participated in the Maple Festival about 15 years and, no matter the weather, it’s always a welcome event because it signifies the beginning of fair season in Northeast Ohio.
“Oh yeah,” she said when asked whether she looks forward to the Maple Festival. “It’s the opening show of the year. It gets us going. It’s gets us out. (It’s the end of) cabin fever!”
Likewise, Greenville, Pa., resident Erin Campbell and her crew — husband Dean Campbell and daughter Morgan Darby — know the Maple Festival means it’s the start of the season and they’re going to be at one event or another over the weekends from now through October.
“I’d say the highlight of this event is that it’s the first festival of the year, Erin Campbell said. “The weather always sucks. But it wouldn’t be the Maple Festival without some rain.”
Campbell, who runs Erin’s Home Decor and More, said she participates in events throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania starting with the Maple Festival. She also has a farm-based business named Twisted C Ranch, raising numerous livestock and produce, including miniature Hereford cattle.
This year marks the 89th annual Geauga County Maple Festival, which debuted in 1926, Tvergyak said.
“Of course, it skipped a couple years there during World War II. But it’s been ongoing ever since,” he said. “It all started with maple people — (those who were producing) maple syrup, local farmers and others who wanted (to promote the area’s agriculture). It was A.B. Carlson, who used to have a hardware store here, who kind of spearheaded the thing, got it going. And a lot of syrup producers, farmers and other merchants joined in and got it going.”
He said it was a way for them to promote Geauga County produce and involve the community in fun way.
Tvergyak said not much has changed over the years, with staples like pancake (and, of course, maple syrup) breakfasts drawing big crowds. The Saturday morning parade is a hit, he said.
And features such as the bathtub race and lumberjack competition continue to entertain folks who come to enjoy Chardon’s premier festival.
This year’s Maple Festival is no exception, with those staple events and attractions slated to take place throughout its four-day run.
For more information and a schedule of events, visit the Geauga County Maple Festival’s website.
The event, held in Chardon Square, runs noon — 10 p.m. April 26, 10 a.m. - 11 p.m. April 27, 10 a.m. - 11 p.m. April 28 and 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. April 29.