Senator Griffo's Weekly Column #10: Maple Weekend Is Coming

Mark your calendars for March 22-23 and March 29-30. Maple Weekend is almost upon us!

This is your chance to get a first-hand look at how maple products are made, from the tree tap to the table. New York is the nation's second largest maple producer, producing a whopping 18 percent of America's entire output.

Maple production is ramping up, too. During the 2013 season, New York's maple producers used 2.2 million taps - the largest amount since just after World War II.

There will be more than 100 locations celebrating Maple Weekend this year. Here's a list of agribusinesses that are participating in my district. Admission to all events are free, not including the cost of pancake breakfasts.

LEWIS COUNTY

Moser's Maple
9609 Croghan Resorvoir Rd
Croghan, NY 13327

Phone: (315) 346-6628 / (315) 486-7933

Moser's Maple is offering a demonstrations of its reverse-osmosis machine and its maple confections maker and, weather permitting, a self-guided woods tour. All products, including the "award-winning, melt-in-your-mouth maple candy," will be for sale.

Open: March 22, 23, 29 & 30

Moser's Mapleridge Farm
3981 Wilson Road
Copenhagen, NY 13626-3530

Phone: (315) 688-2518

Moser's Mapleridge Farm is offering tractor and wagon rides to the sugarbush, snowshoeing and a sap gathering demonstration. There are samples of their maple syrup, sugarcakes, maple cream and granulated sugar to try.

Open: March 22 & 29

Oswegatchie Educational Center
9340 Long Pond Road
Croghan, NY 13327-2525

Phone: (315) 346-1222

The Oswegatchie Education Center is a year-round educational and recreational retreat center. It offers opportunities to learn about sugar bush and maple history, as well as the methods different generations used to harvest sap. There are free samples of syrup and maple products are available for sale.

Open: March 22, 23, 29 & 30

Pierce's Sugar Spigot
11603 Route 812
Croghan, NY 13327

Phone: (315) 543-2980 / (315) 286-7999

Pierce's Sugar Spigot is offering guided tours of its facility, its tubing/vacuum system and its property. You can watch sap get boiled into syrup, while sampling all of the Sugar Spigot's products, including syrup, sugarcakes, maple cream, maple butter, maple lollipops, maple-coated peanuts and even maple snocones.

Open: March 22, 23, 29 & 30

Swiss'er Sweet Maple
6242 Swiss Road
Castorland, NY 13620-1244

Phone: (315) 346-1034 / (315) 286-1095

Swiss'er Sweet Maple will offer guided tours demonstrating the entire maple process from tree to table. They are also giving out free samples of their maple cotton candy. Treats can be purchased as well.

Open: March 22, 23, 29 & 30

Yancey's Sugarbush
7981 Long Pond Road
Croghan, NY 13327-2508

Phone: (315) 346-6356

Yancey's Sugarbush still gathers sap the traditional way - with two teams of horses pulling sleighs or wagons. Two wood-fired evaporators boil the sap into syrup and everything is packaged fresh. They also offer maple cream, sugarcakes and granulated sugar.

Open: March 29-30

ONEIDA COUNTY

Tibbitts Maple
8874 Tibbitts Road
New Hartford, NY 13413-5228

Phone: (315) 793-3114 / (315) 794-2752

Tibbits Maple will be canning syrup during Maple Weekend.

Open: March 22-23

V.V.S. FFA Maple Market
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School 
5275 State Route 31
Verona, NY 13478-2913

Phone: (315) 829-2520 / (315) 335-0887

The V-V-S FFA is serving a pancake breakfast from 7:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the High School cafeteria. Visitors can also take a free, student-guided wagon ride to a sugarbush and maple sap house and watch all steps of syrup production. 

Open: March 22, 23, 29 & 30

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY

Fine-n-Dandy
2620 County Rt. 35
Norwood, NY 13668

Phone: (315) 528-4700 / (315) 388-4149

Fine-n-Dandy is offering free samples of maple sugar and maplecream and syrup. They'll also educate visitors on the concept of forest management.

Open: March 29-30

Finen Maple Products
529 Austin Ridge Rd
Norwood, NY 13668-3118

Phone: (240) 405-2231 / (301) 524-8628

Finen Maple Products is offering buggy rides through the sugar woods, weather permitting. They will also have free samples of maple items and syrup for sale.

Open: March 22, 23 & 29

Parker Maple Farm
2591 County Road 21
Canton, NY 13617

Phone: (315) 212-2399 / (315) 212-6780

Parker Maple Farm is offering tours of the sugar house, maple candy and maple cream making demonstrations and, weather permitting, a boil on their wood-pellet evaporator. Samples of syrup and maple confections will be available.

Open: March 22-23

Sweeter Creations Sugar House
348 Pearson Road
Madrid, NY 13660-3114

Phone: (315) 322-5535

Sweeter Creations will demonstrate its tap collection process and will offer maple syrup, maple cream, molded maple sugar and granulated maple sugar for sale.

Open: March 22, 23, 29 & 30

The Orebed Sugar Shack
503 Ore Bed Road
De Kalb Junction, NY 13630-3109

Phone: (315) 347-3415 / (315) 528-2450

The Orebed Sugar Shack will offer free guided tours of its operation and free samples of maple syrup, maple cream and maple candy. There's also free face painting, horse drawn wagon rides, chainsaw carving and even alpacas! Raffles and coloring contest will also be ongoing.

Open: March 22, 23, 29 & 30