YOUNGSTOWN — On warm days in March, passersby near the Wick Recreation Area in Mill Creek Park may notice steam billowing off a building tucked in a grove and curiously check inside.

“The sugar house sits there basically idle for 11 months out of the year, so when they finally see it all opened up with steam pouring out, they’re very interested to know what’s going on,” said Nick Sarra, a Rocky Ridge neighborhood resident and volunteer syrup producer.

For about a decade, the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association has collected and boiled maple syrup in Mill Creek’s Charles S. Robinson Maple Grove.

Rocky Ridge Neighbors got the idea to tap the trees after hiking near the grove, which was planted in 1951 and named for a former Mill Creek Park commissioner.

“People are very surprised that there’s even a maple grove there,” Sarra said of the Mill Creek Park production.

The Neighbors have a handshake agreement with the park, Sarra said. He estimated that this year, they have approximately 130 taps in 90 trees. They collect sap in bags mounted to the trees and transport it by bucket to the Rocky Ridge Sugar House, located in the grove, Sarra said.

Read more in Monday’s Vindicator.