UPDATED WITH CORRECTED DATE (March 8, 2017, 9:30 p.m.): Ready for a taste of fresh, sweet, pure New York maple syrup. . . Looking for pancake breakfasts, sugarhouse tours, tapping ceremonies, Sap Run, and other special events at maple sites in Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida and Oswego counties?
Maple producers in the four-county region have announced their 2017 Maple Weekends tree tapping ceremonies and special events with free tastings, tours, syrup and confection-making demonstrations, recipes and treats for sale on March 18-19 and 25-26. Dress appropriately for weather and walking.
2017 Maple Weekends activities in Oneida County include:
Tree Tapping Ceremonies: Saturday, March 18, 11 am, Tibbitts Maple, 8874 Tibbitts Road, New Hartford; special guests include NYS Assemblyman Brian D. Miller, and Sunday, March 26, 11 am, V.V.S. High School, 5275 State Route 31, Verona; hosted by the award-winning V.V.S. FFA Chapter
In Clinton: Shaw’s Maple Products, 7945 Maxwell Road, 315.725.0547. Sugarhouse tours, samples, recipes, making maple cotton candy. Stir your own maple cream to taste.
In New Hartford: Tibbitts Maple, 8874 Tibbitts Road, 315.793.3114. Began with Friend Tibbitts at family homestead; today, 6-year-old hauls firewood for evaporator in toy trucks.
In Verona: V.V.S. FFA Maple Market at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School, 5275 State Route 31, 315.335.0887. Pancake breakfast 7:30 am-12 pm, fee. Saphouse-sugarbush tours 9 am-3 pm, 10 am: Maple Queen and Princess cooking demo.
Check listings in the free 2017 Maple Weekends brochure for the four counties atwww.mapleweekend.com for directions and to see which days the various sites are open from10 am to 4 pm. The brochure is also available at county Chambers of Commerce and Cooperative Extension offices, and by mail from Lewis Region Maple Weekend Coordinator Marcia Rudd at ruddsmaple@yahoo.com.