Spring In Natick: Dairy Queen, Sap Buckets & Runners Galore

NATICK, MA— Spring is here and slowly but surely the days are growing warmer. But what makes it spring in Natick? Patch asked you in a Facebook post and boy, did we get a response.

Other than the warm temperatures melting what snow is left on the ground, answers varied including the sight of street sweepers on the road and an uptick in Saturday traffic for the Farmers Market. We did get a few popular answers that stood out, check it out:

You know it's spring in Natick when Dairy Queen is open.

Quite a few people look forward to treating themselves to Blizzard from DQ once spring time rolls around. Lucky for them Natick's Dairy Queen, located at 323 North Main St. opened on Monday this season, just a few days before spring. But who needs a calendar to tell them when to enjoy an Oreo Blizzard.

You know its spring in Natick when the sap buckets are on the trees around town.

Maple production season usually starts in late February in the state and runs through March and April. Nothing says spring like tapping your local tree to make fresh syrup for pancakes. The Natick Community Organic Farm offers maple sugaring tours through March if you're curious as to how your syrup gets from the tree to the bottle.

You know its spring in Natick when runners are out prepping for the marathon.

If the Boston Marathon is a spring staple than the runners around town prepping for the race are the first red flags. The route for the 26.2 mile marathon runs right through Natick, so there's no better place to get practice in for the big day. This year 61 runners will represent the town. The Boston Marathon is April 15.

(Have a suggestion we missed? We want to hear it. Send an email to samantha.mercado@patch.com with "Spring in Natick" in the subject line)