As we slog through March, local residents anticipate warmer days ahead.  While our friends to the south are seeing daffodils and cherry trees in full bloom and planting their summer gardens, we are happy to take in any morsel of evidence that signifies the change of seasons. One of those morsels is the running of the sap from the maple trees.

Not many people know this, but New York State is the country’s third leading producer of maple syrup, with much of it coming from the North Country!  The city of Ogdensburg is even nicknamed The Maple City.

Growing up in New York, I always thought everyone had abundant access to fresh maple syrup.  While serving in the Navy, I spent nearly two decades below the Mason-Dixon line and learned otherwise.   In a land of sugar cane and pecans, I could not even find a maple walnut ice cream to save my life!  Those days are behind me now, and I have a whole new appreciation for this sweet, sticky regional delicacy.

Lynn Barnes, a local resident, is tapping her father’s trees in Russel, NY.  She is continuing a long time family tradition for her father, who is no longer able to do it.

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