March 16, 17, 23, and 24 Designated as Maple Weekends
(Verona, NY -March 2013) For two weekends of March, the smell of maple wafts through the hallways at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School as the FFA members celebrate Maple Weekend. More than 2,000 people are expected to partake in the sweet tastes of maple or take free wagon rides and tours of the school’s maple operation as New York’s Maple Weekend gets underway at V.V.S.
This year’s event, scheduled for March 16, 17, 23, and 24 is devoted to the recognition of the New York State Maple Industry.
As part of the weekend’s festivities, the V.V.S. FFA will be sponsoring a Pancake Breakfast Buffet all four weekend days and sponsor several maple demonstrations. The breakfasts will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and include a menu of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, French toast, toast, beverage and features pure maple syrup produced by the V.V.S. FFA. Prices for the all-you-can-eat breakfast are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and children, and pre-schoolers are free.
Beginning at 9 a.m. half-hour guided tours of the V.V.S. Agriculture Department’s Maple Syrup Laboratory will be conducted. The school’s facility includes a sap filtration system, sap preheater, reverse osmosis machine, set-up for a 5,000-tap maple operation, and newly acquired wood-chip fed evaporator, which burns renewable willow as a heat source. The willow is grown by the V.V.S. Agriculture Department. Tour participants will view the process of processing maple sap into maple syrup. Included is a free 20 -minute wagon ride from the pancake breakfast to the school’s maple sugarbush and maple processing laboratory.
As a special program of Maple Weekend, New York Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets Darrel Aubertine will be attending an official New York Maple Weekend Syrup Season Kickoff Ceremony at the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School in Verona. Aubertine will be joined by Oneida County Maple Royalty and tap the “2013 Maple Tree” on Sunday March 24 at 11 a.m. on the V.V.S. High School lawn.
After the tree tapping, an official Proclamation from New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo will be read declaring March 24, 2013 as the official New York Maple Sunday. This proclamation recognizes the importance of New York State’s Maple Industry and supports statewide efforts to promote pure maple products. Other local and state dignitaries are expected to be on hand in support of the event. The ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m.
The Maple Weekend events are open to the general public. The V.V.S. High School is located on State Route 31 between State Routes 5 and 365.
For more information, call the V.V.S. Agriculture Department at 829-2520, ext. 7462.