2000 Fall Tour Wrap Up
by Cathi Bates
(This article was sent to the Maple Syrup Digest)

For a few years we have been having the most perfect weather for the fall tour; this year was not quite so great. Although not a 'washout', we did get wet a couple of times. Maple producers are a hardy bunch and didn't let a little rain dampen the tour. There were five stops on the route and we enjoyed each one of them.

At Rick's Sugar Bush & Supply, we found a wonderful supply of coffee and donuts! We took the time to get re-acquainted with each other and then to look over Rick's sugar bush. It is so nice to get the chance to see how other producers are set up and to get new ideas for our own operation.

Further down the road, at Gerald & Katherine Nelson's, we found 'weeping' walnut trees, a prancing horse, and a tractor chained to the sugarhouse. The tractor wasn't very big though, about a 1/32 scale. The Nelson's have begun a young maple stand in an overgrown pasture. We will have to go there on tour in a few more years to see how the stand is progressing.

The youngsters had an especially good time at Craig and Sandy Arnold's Sugar Bush. We had been doused with plenty of rain in the early hours of the morning and some mighty fine puddles were taking up the driveway to the sugarhouse. A couple of boys had apples on sticks that they were stirring the puddles with. Looked like a lot of fun!

At the Potter Farm, owned by Steve and Sue Whitman, I thought perhaps we were in the Vermont area. What a hill we got to go down and then go up again! Their sugarhouse was a quaint, picturesque old thing.

Our final stop on this tour was Nelson's Sugar Bush owned by Robert and Darlene Nelson. They also have a sawmill and kiln at the farm. We enjoyed a very coordinated demonstration of the family running the sawmill and then checked out the wood shop and kiln. A very fine operation is run on this farm with everything being used for something.

Thank you to the tour committee and the producers who opened their sugar bushes.