THE STICKY SHANTY
Member Profile
By Terry Coleman

In my travels around Michigan, I've seen many scenic areas. One of my favorites is the garden of our Upper Peninsula. The tiny city of Garden is home to Robert and Nancy Scott and their operation called "The Sticky Shanty". Robert spent his childhood in the Clio area of the lower peninsula where his grandparents ran a sugaring operation just down the road from his house. Their operation was on a relative’s farm where they lived and sharecropped on a 50/50 basis with the owner. They operated until the late 1950's.

After Robert got out of the military in 1960, he got married and also laid-off. He talked to the relative who still had the old farm and he and his father re-opened the old bush and used the same equipment his grandparents had for the first ten years. It was a 30"x10' Grimm arch with a Vermont front pan and flat pans in the rear. In 1970, new Leader pans were purchased. They ran about 500 taps with buckets and gathered by tractor/trailer. Production averaged 100-125 gallons and they operated until 1987.

After retiring from GM corp., Robert began searching for an affordable maple stand and he ended up in the U.P.. He found an empty 40 acre parcel with 12 acres of young single bucket trees. He went and purchased a 30"x 10' King wood-fired evaporator with a pre-heater and quickly bricked it in the snow in his front yard. He slapped up a temporary shelter and put out 50 taps the first season. The next season brought a 16'x20' building with a canning room.

The operation has 425 taps on buckets and a few are on a neighbor’s property. Gathering is done by tractor and the aid of a couple of good friends. Robert said that due to the rocky soil, he throws a party when his sugar content gets up to two. Mr. Scott does all the boiling except for two weeks each season when his son from Ohio takes vacation, and comes to be the boil master.

Robert does not want to enlarge, but he has his eye on a neighbor’s groomed maple lot where 200 taps are grouped tightly with good slope for tubing. He would like to eliminate gathering 200 buckets! Most of their crop is sold at the house, but he also deals with some small tourist type stores in Garden. The last couple of seasons have brought poor crops so good weather this year will bring a smile to the Scott's. Mr. Scott feels that for a hobby and a retirement income in one, sugaring is #1.

The farm is one mile north of Garden on M183 to 18th road. Turn right on 18th and it's 3/4 mile down (only house on the left).