Dear West Virginia Maple Syrup Producers and friends,
Our season is all but over and the best that can be said is “It was better than last year.”
Depending on where you are in the state, latitude, and elevation, the season ranged
from good to “It was better than last year.”
As we move from late nights at the evaporator to pulling taps and cleaning tanks, we
have one maple world event left to look forward to, the annual meeting of the West
Virginia Maple Syrup Producers Association. It’s an excellent opportunity to gather,
swap stories, learn from each other, and do what we do best this time of the year, plan
for the next maple season.
This year, the meeting will be held on Saturday, April 20th, at St Paul’s Episcopal
Church, located at 206 E 2nd Street in Weston. Although we love Jackson’s Mill, this
year it was booked for our dates. Saturday’s meeting kicks off with our maple contest,
then concludes with our annual Maple Banquet, which will be across the street at South
Texas Barbeque Company. If you are interested in preparing a maple dessert or having
your contest confections become part of our banquet dessert, please let us know.
Janet Woods, Curator of the Hurry Hill Maple Museum in Edinboro, PA, will be
speaking at the banquet. Come ready to learn about the “Miracles on Maple Hill.”
This year we want to encourage each of you to come with a buddy. Note, I did not say
to bring along a jar of buddy (syrup), but come with a buddy. We all know there are
Maple Syrup producers out there who, unfortunately, are not WVMSPA members. So,
invite them to come along, and for the cost of a membership, they can join us for our
annual Maple Banquet.
And don’t forget “Maple Madness” confectioners’ workshop, with master maple
confectioner Steve Childs, happening on Friday, April 19th. If you didn’t quite make
enough money this year “squeezing those trees,” you might want to consider increasing
your profit margin with value-added products. Steve has a bag of tricks that will help
someone new at value-added get going and, for those in the business, improve their
product quality. In addition, Kody Boone and Thomas Wood will present, then Paul Ronk
will demonstrate how to properly use the cotton candy machine. Register at
https://bit.ly/maplemtg early for the Friday workshop to ensure your seat!
Thanks, bring a buddy and see you there.
President Paul
Download the agenda and details of Maple Madness here: