MMSA Board of Directors Meeting
May 15, 2005
Doherty Hotel ● Clare, Michigan

The meeting was called to order by President Tom Cook at 12:10 pm. Members present included: Tom Cook, Fred Bates, Mark Battel (Dianne), Terry Coleman, Arnold Hammel, Ron (Debbi) Thomas, Dale (Julie) Forrester, Joyce Ross, Tim Boonstra and MSU’s Russ Kidd.

The Annual Maple Crop Report was given. The consensus was that the season was short, a high sugar content was present, the color was good but no big runs of sap ever came about.

The Secretary’s Report was approved as printed in the newsletter. The Treasurer’s Report was reviewed and approved. We are currently banking with Chase. Arnold Hammel is the Association’s new Treasurer.

Joyce Ross reported that there are currently 175 paid members. Joyce will send an updated membership list to the Maple Digest as well as the Web Master.

It was noted that Honorary Member Claude Esch passed away on 2/23/05.

The 2005 Fall Tour will be held in the Fairview area on Saturday, October 1st. Terry Coleman and Tim Boonstra will coordinate this event. The Tour Itinerary and map along with Registration form is included within this newsletter.

Several newspaper articles were printed this past maple season featuring association members. These included the Arnolds, Dodds and the Hartwick Pines Group. A possible maple weekend promotion may be initiated by our organization in the future. This idea has been tried and proven in other maple producing states.

In the area of legislation, our state currently does not recognize maple syrup production as agricultural as related to land use and taxable values. Our properties can now be classified as “Residential” or “Commercial” rather than “Agricultural”. This is dependent upon individual township supervisors and how they see the issues.

Terry Coleman made a motion and it was seconded by Dale Forrester to adopt a resolution stating our position that maple syrup production is without question an agricultural product worthy of that status. The motion was passed by the board.

A second motion was made by Ron Thomas and seconded by Terry Coleman to authorize the spending of up to $500 on the part of Tom Cook and Arnold Hammel for the pursuit of changes in legislative guidelines regarding property use classification.

The 2006 Annual Winter Meeting will once again be held at the Doherty Hotel in Clare, MI. A motion was made by Ron Thomas and seconded by Fred Bates to adopt a policy not to reimburse persons who have registered for either the Fall or Winter Meetings and then fail to attend for whatever reason. MMSA must still pay for meals, materials, rooms, etc. regardless of whether those individuals attend or not. A disclaimer to this effect will appear at the bottom of future meeting registrations.

Nominations of new Board Members and Honorary Membership status issues were discussed. More talk will take place at our Fall Tour Meeting.

The NAMSC/IMSI Report was given by Dale Forrester. In most maple producing states a rather poor season was reported. A new problem has arisen within our maple world. It is that of bleaching syrup to upgrade its quality in the realm of color. It is felt that this is a form of adulteration of Pure Maple Syrup. Tim Perkins of the Proctor Maple Research Center is building a data base of syrup samples from various geographic areas in his quest to establish a basis for pursuing this issue further. We may very well hear more on this topic later.

The IMSI continues its discussion of the possibility of establishing uniform descriptions in identifying the various tastes and colors of syrup for consumer clarification.

It was decided to send Jean Maday as the MI Delegate to the NAMSC/IMSI Meeting on August 11th.

Our association will be responsible for hosting the 2010 National Meeting. A tentative location for this meeting is the Frankenmuth area.

With no further business to discuss. The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Tim Boonstra