February 19, 2026 – The Macon County Conservation Districtis kicking off their 60th anniversary celebration with the 60thAnniversary Pancake Breakfast. The event will be held Saturday, February 28, from 8 – 11am at the Rock Springs Nature Center.
Conservation District staff and volunteers will be serving up an all-you-can-eat breakfast featuring pancakes, sausage, orange juice, milk, and coffee. Before or after breakfast, guests are invited to enjoy an educational maple syrup program complete with a tasting. Tickets will be available for purchase on the day of the event, but advance purchase is strongly encouraged to ensure availability.
Beginning in 1996, the annual pancake breakfast— prepared and served by Conservation District staff and volunteers—became a wintertime tradition that brought the community together during the colder months, when many stayed indoors. Guests looked forward to enjoying real maple syrup harvested from the sugar bush and boiled down in the sugar shack at Sand Creek Conservation Area. When the sap flowed just right, syrup was also available for purchase, making each year’s breakfast feel a little extra special. After years of fond memories, the pancake breakfasts were eventually retired, with the final event held in 2010.
The maple syrup programs offered at the Conservation District have a longer history than that of the pancake breakfasts, and have evolved quite a bit over time. These programs were primarily geared toward school field trips, welcoming hundreds of students to Rock Springs Nature Center each year to learn how maple syrup is made. Rotating through hands-on learning stations, students explored topics like “tree plumbing,” tree products, and the syrup-making process itself. A short walk across the parking lot and down a woodland trail led them to Homestead Prairie Farm, where costumed interpreters demonstrated old-fashioned syrup making—boiling maple sap outdoors in a large kettle over a crackling fire.
During the early maple syrup programs held at Rock Springs Conservation Area, pavilions were transformed into makeshift sugar shacks by tarping the sides to enclose the space. There, students could see the modern syrup-making process in action using a large evaporator. In some years, the Sand Creek Conservation Area sugar shack was also opened to the public, offering behind-the-scenes glimpses of the operation during special open houses.
This year, the conservation district will revisit the tradition. The 60th Anniversary Pancake Breakfast will be held in the Rock Springs Nature Center’s new indoor–outdoor classroom, with Maple Syrup Programs taking place upstairs in the Greenberg Auditorium. For full event details and to purchase tickets, visit MaconCCD.org.
Cost for breakfast is $10 per person, but the educational maple syrup programs scheduled at 8:30, 9:30, and 10:30am are free.
