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Last update January 31, 2012
Free Tours of Thurman Sugarhouses and a Family Sawmill
Three
glorious weekends to celebrate the start of spring and the end
of cabin fever! Watch sap being gathered and boiled and see how
a Certifiied Tree Farm makes maximum use of the wood from maple
(and other) trees. Enjoy fun activities, demonstrations, delectable
goodies, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. each day. Like pancakes?
Pancake
breakfast at Valley Road Maple Farm is
available each day, beginning at 9 a.m. and running until 1 p.m.,
so you won't have to miss a minute of tour time. Read
more...
Jackwax
And if you've never sampled old-fashioned jackwax, be sure to
take in this year's Maple Sugar Party at Town Hall on Saturday,
March10th! Read
more...
Find Us
See two maps below--first a Mapquest map, and next a local map--both
showing our 2011 maple sites (watch for updates).
Print
the local map
in pdf format here. See MapQuest. Come with a full gas
tank, as there are no fuel pumps in Thurman.
Or
simply follow signs or pick up maps at Thurman town hall, 311 Athol
Road, Athol
Ligon photo A GUEST ENJOYS TRADITIONAL MAPLE
JACKWAX
Ligon Photo
SIMMERING SYRUP TO JUST THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY FOR JACKWAX
Thurman
Maple Sugar Party Saturday, March 10th only, 4 p.m. until all are served
Fighting cancer for over 50 years...
Held at Thurman town hall, Athol, this all-you-can eat sumptuous
buffet topped off with genuine jackwax, benefits the American
Cancer Society. Serving begins at 4 p.m. and lasts until all
are served. $10 adults, $5 for kids
6-11. free for those 5 and under.
Info. 518-623-9649, ThurmanInfo@aol.com.
Jackwax
parties have been held by North Country folks forever, and this
confection, it has been said, probably originated with the Native
Americans.
A Thurman diary written in the 1930s tells of the jackwax party
held at Athol Methodist Church, which once stood between town
hall and the Harris House. It raised funds for the church, but
one year it was held to help the family of a young local boy
stricken by leukemia. The next year, the church had closed and
the young boy's life had been lost. Organizers decided to carry
on the tradition of hosting the meal, and to donate the funds
to the American Cancer Society. This year marks the 53rd year
that the dinner has been held for this purpose.
Enjoy Sugar Party entertainment by Hoddy
Ovitt and the Warren County Ramblers.
ALL ROADS LEAD TO THURMAN MAPLE SYRUP
PHOTO BY AMY DREXEL FIRING UP THE EVAPORATOR
PHOTO BY SALLY
FEIHEL
MIKE HILL FLIPS FLAPJACKS DAILY
Tour the Farms Each weekend, Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-
4 p.m. Family
Fun on Tap
Find brochures with maps at each site, at Thurman Town Hall and
around the region, or download one on this website. Many use GPS
readings, but some just watch for signs.
Bring
the whole family to visit all four sites! Watch maple syrup being
made before your eyes. At three maple farms, all different, you'll
see syrup, maple sugar and candies being made. Wonderful maple
treats will tempt your palate, and special activities will fill
your day with fun. Sugarhouses will open their doors for touring
and tasting, sampling and shopping; Martin's Certified Tree Farm
will offer demonstrations of their sawmill operation, showing
beautiful grains of the sugar maple, and wood sawed from a tree
tapped in bygone days, as well as craft demonstrations and items
for sale. Look below for detailed addresses and descriptions of
all the sites and a map showing their locations..
BREAKFAST ANYONE?
Valley Road Maple Farm invites you to come early (9 a.m.) to enjoy
a pancake breakfast dripping with...what else?...pure Thurman
maple syrup! And don't forget the Maple Sugar Party on March 10th.
It's
a delectable all-you-can-eat buffet topped off with old-fashioned
jackwax for dessert, accompanied by local musicians. Held at Thurman
town hall, 311 Athol Road, Athol, NY, it begins at 4 p.m. and
lasts till all are served.
MEET
YOUR
TOUR HOSTS...
1. Adirondack Gold Maple Farm (C)
74 Bear Pond Road www.AdkGoldMaple.com
Here third generation maple producers operate an
old fashioned sugarhouse. They have 700 taps (600 with tubing and
100 in buckets) and a 2' x 6' wood-fired stainless steel evaporator.
Come browse the Kenyons' full line of maple products to get your
"maple fix" and stock up on gifts for the year. Family
activities are planned at Adirondack Gold Maple Farm for both days
of each weekend. Tapper will
show the kids how to tap and gather sap and boil. Bring snowshoes
to try out snow permitting and have fun. "Big Foot" snowshoes
will be there also I will be having people taste the different from
all "maple" syrups see if they can tell what is real and
what is fake also grading the syrup. Will have recipes for ladies
to have; syrup isn't just for pancakes anymore!
2.
Martin's Lumber & Lucyann's Crafts (D)
280 Valley Road www.PersisGranger.com/Adk_Martins.htm
Gary and Wini Martin have a one hundred-acre certified tree farm
with a portable bandsaw mill, and their site is also the home of
Lucyann's Stained Glass Stepping Stones and Paper Bead Jewelry.
You can shop for these items and see demonstrations of the crafts.
The Martins carefully manage their woodland resources and will talk
to you about silviculture, explaining the principles of sustainable
forestry. They will demonstrate operation of their sawmill, and
show selectively cut maple that bears the indications of tapping
in bygone days. Their displays will include maple boards, showing
some of the unique and beautiful grains of the sugar maple, many
available as slabs for table or bar construction.
3.
Valley Road Maple Farm (E)
190 Valley Road http://www.thurman-ny.com/directory-category-listings.asp?catid=378.
Sugarmakers Mike Hill and Ralph Senecal boil in a new state-of-the-art
sugarhouse. They have 2,800 taps on vacuum with reverse osmosis.
Their products include syrup, cream, candy, sugar, cotton candy,
and they will open early for breakfast. Valley Road Maple earned
the Vermont international maple syrup contest for light amber syrup
and the 2008 and 2009 New York State Fairl first prize for maple
candy. They will host breakfast each morning beginning at 9 a.m.
-- hot, fluffy pancakes with pure maple syrup drizzled over the
top! MMmmmmm.
4.
Toad Hill Maple Farm (B)
151 Charles Olds Road www.toadhillmaple.com The
Galusha family has produced pure Adirondack maple products at Toad
Hill Maple Farm for more than 40 years. In 2011 they opened their
large new timberframe sugarhouse including a new energy efficient
process for producing pure maple syrup including a wood fired evaporator,
a reverse osmosis machine and large stainless steel tanks. Toad
Hill is the largest maple producer in Warren County, gathering sap
from more than 3,700 sugar maple trees. Visit us for a tour and
see our new maple kitchen where we package syrup and make maple
cream, candy and sugar. Enjoy samples and browse our products in
our gift shop.
