Delegate Report from the NAMSC, October 23-26, 2005

Hello from Ron Thomas, MMSA vice president and delegate to the North American Maple Syrup Council. With 25 people from Michigan and Indiana, we boarded the busses Saturday, October 22, heading up to Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada. The colors were beautiful all the way up there; and we finally arrived Sunday evening.

On Monday, October 24, the annual meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. and minutes from the 2004 meeting were approved. Committees were appointed and the following reports were given: treasurer’s, maple research, Maple Digest, and bylaw revision committee. The meeting concluded at approximately 10:30 a.m. to be continued on Wednesday. We also went over the schedule for future hosts of the annual meeting – Michigan will be hosting the meeting in 2011.
Later that day, we attended technical sessions and enjoyed meeting other maple producers from across the US and Canada.

Tuesday, October 25, we visited many places:

• Citadelle, a cooperative in Canada with over 2000 producers across the province of Quebec; this co-op was founded in 1925 and sells products in over 35 countries around the world.
• Acer Center, a non-profit organization financed by the Quebec ministry of agriculture.
• The USNR manufacturing plant where we saw milling equipment along with a full line of heavy-duty lift trucks. A high tech engineering department and a full line of CNC machines make it a world-class supplier.
• The sugarbush of Réal and Lucie Vigneault, consisting of 1600 taps and founded in 1928.
• The sugarbush of Line and Ronald Lamontagne; this operation began in 1995 and consists of 3300 taps.
• Sugarbush Stanfold, Inc. operates via three pump stations with a total of 17,500 taps (a possibility of 19,000); it is owned by Louis Rivard and Nathalie Fortier.
• Aux Mille Érables Sugarbush ended the busy day with a tour and dinner. This operation began in 1964 and has grown to 25,000 taps today. Another passion Angelo (the sugarbush owner) shared with the group was his collection of 400+ antique chainsaw models from all over the world.

Wednesday morning, October 26, the NAMSC meeting reconvened, where Michael Girard, strategic plan coordinator began by updating the group. NAMSC leaders gave reports on the following council work: Maple Manual Report, the Maple Museum, Hall of Fame Report, the Maple Specialists’ Report. Delegates voted on strategic plan revisions, the audit committee report and the nominating committee report, as well as the election of new officers. President Roger Sage adjourned the meeting at noon. That evening and the whole event culminated with the annual banquet and awards. From our own association, Larry Haigh (of Haigh’s Maple Syrup & Supplies) won first place for maple cream; and Cal Reetz (of Ron’s Pure Maple Syrup) won third place for maple cream.

On Thursday and Friday, the MMSA travelers made their way home; it was a great trip. See you in Green Bay, WI, next year – October 19-22, 2006!