Forget the chills of winter, warm your hearts and seek your thrills in Butler County, just 20 minutes north of Pittsburgh.

Whether you’re interested in history, art, music, theater, antiquing or boutiquing, botany or farming, you can experience it all, so plan your visit from March to May.

Get a taste of Spring at Jennings Environmental Center’s Maple Sugaring on March 19. This presentation will unravel the mystery of how a tree works and demonstrate the art of maple sugaring from past to present. The program will begin indoors and move outside for a guided walk featuring a working evaporator and conclude with tasting real maple syrup.

Celebrate and commemorate the original Big Ben at the Succop Theater with Ensemble Chaconne’s, “The Music of Ben Franklin” on March 25. This selection features music that underscored the life of one of our most famous founding fathers including musical collections from England, France and the newly emerging United States.

Did you ever wonder why red-tailed hawks lock talons and tumble from the sky or why muskrats just plain stink? Find out at Jennings Environmental Center’s “Love is in the Air,” a study of wild animal courtship behavior, on April 2. Staff will reveal the crazy, lovesick, instinct driven need to propagate and the irresistibly fascinating lives of a handful of springtime animals. See the flight dance of the woodcock, hear the advertisement call of the spring peeper and discover other intriguing mating behaviors occurring in the fields and forests of Pennsylvania during the season of love. Following a brief indoor presentation, travel to the Jennings prairie and explore several baffling breeding behaviors.

Shop ’til you drop at Alpaca De Moda Boutique’s spring open house on April 14. You can expect the latest fashions for anytime of the year with beautiful pima cottons and lightweight alpaca clothing. Toys and other special gifts can be found for every family member, including artistic handbags by Mary Francis.

A band with local connections presents music from the Big Band Era on April 23 at the Succop Theater. The Trinity Jazz Orchestra, a full-sized big band with 17 to 20 members specializes in the best Christian and secular big band jazz arrangements. Its members are either professional music educators or former and current professional road warriors.

For the entire month of May, Japanese Samurai Dolls will be exhibited at the Maridon Museum in Butler. The Maridon’s permanent collection includes over 800 art objects. The Asian art collection includes jade and ivory sculptures, tapestries, landscape paintings, scrolls and artifacts. The collection contains objects that date back to the Neolithic Period (second and third millennium B.C.), as well as a set of six ink-on-paper scrolls by the contemporary Chinese artist, Wan Qingli.

Armstrong Bed and Breakfast, an historically prominent 200 year old farm/inn hosts its annual Wild Flower Walk on May 13. This Pennsylvania Century Farm is still operating a large purebred cattle operation on 1000 acres in the quaint town of Saxonburg. Learn to identify plant species, insects and birds by a professional botanist. The walk is sponsored by John Roebling’s Historical Saxonburg Society, Inc.

Artists, art collectors and enthusiasts, be sure to check out “Sup & Art & Some Rousing Tunes” on May 13. A homemade meal, entertainment and an art and hand-painted furniture auction is presented by Sing Hosanna at the Greenwood Village Fire Hall in Butler.

Children, young and old, will enjoy Theatreworks USA’s production of the Junie B. Jones series of books by Barbara Parks on May 19 at Slippery Rock University’s Miller Auditorium. The production takes the precocious Junie through a year in first grade. Clever design sets, assorted styles of original music and spirited cast members are hallmarks of this production.

Portersville Steam and Old Equipment Association hosts the Spring Gas Up, a steam engine exhibition, May 20-21. You can explore antique farm equipment and displays, enjoy live demonstrations and crafts as well as shop at the flea market. This old time village has an operating print shop, machine shop, steam exhibits, gas station and more.

Think Spring because we have over 790 acres waiting to be explored in Butler County. Seek thrills, indulge yourself, and then relax or catch some Z’s at one our hotels, B&B’s, or campgrounds because...your adventure awaits!

For more information or to plan your visit to Butler County, call 1-866-856-8444 or visit
www.visitbutlercounty.com