Festival to highlight maple syrup, fun

The 44th Maple Syrup Festival will take place throughout the weekend in Shepherd.

The three-day festival includes activities for everyone. Each day will highlight a different activity.

On Friday, a garden tractor pull will start at noon in the Little Salt River Park. A variety night also will take place at 7 p.m. and an Emergency Vehicle Parade will take place at dusk.

On Saturday, a classic-car display will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. At 7 p.m., the CMU concert band will perform with the Flint Symphonic Band. A senior citizens dance also will take place from 7:15 to 10 p.m.

Sunday will showcase a bed race at noon, followed by a parade at 2:30 p.m.

Pancake, maple syrup and sausage meals will be served the entire weekend. Meals cost $5 for adults, children ages 5 through 12 are $3 and children under 5 are free.

Amusement park rides will operate on both Friday and Saturday. The cost is $14 to ride all day.

The Maple Syrup Festival started in 1958 as a one-day festival. Now it is a three-day festival where people from all over attend, said Kathy Shepard, publicity chair for the festival.

Shepard said she has received phone calls from people interested in attending from Detroit and as far away as Colorado.

“There has been a lot of publicity put into this,” she said.

The proceeds from the festival go to a fund to provide recreational activities for the children of Shepherd.

“It helps maintain things like the Salt River Park and the swimming pool,” Shepard said.

The programers plan the next festival as soon as current festival ends.

“We meet the following week after the festival is done to discuss what went right and what went wrong,” she said.