FAYETTE, Ohio — People were smiling again.
Temperatures soared into the 50s. Snow melted, revealing daffodils and tulips peaking from the damp dirt.
At 4-H Camp Palmer, where 300,000 visitors have explored, canoed, danced, wove baskets, crafted lanyards, and swatted mosquitoes for decades, working outdoors during warm weather is on Jeff Dick’s bucket list.
Actually, since 1965, buckets have been on the supply list for the Dick family’s annual spring-time tradition: making maple syrup.
This spring, the family tradition could help sweeten the pot, so to speak, at the camp where an Olympic-sized swimming pool is under construction. The new pool replaces the camp’s pool that dated back to 1957, and after 57 years of use, it was time to tear it out and build new, said Bill Goodson, executive director of Camp Palmer.
Camp Palmer, near Fayette in Fulton County, will host a maple syrup brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today with pancakes and sausage served in the camp dining hall. At noon and 1 p.m., a maple syrup history session will be in the Erie Sauder Recreation Hall, and from a copper kettle on a tripod over a wood-burning fire, clouds of vapor will drift upwards as sap is boiled down into a golden, glistening syrup.
Making the Maple Festival particularly special is the local connection. Sap for the syrup was collected from trees at the camp. Sugar maples, one of many types of maple trees, are the main producer of sap for syrup.
Mr. Dick, a former interim director at the camp, tapped trees and placed 400 buckets on maple trees across the camp as the maple season started. It takes about 40 to 50 gallons of silver maple sap to make one gallon of pure maple syrup.
Stepping off with lingering cold feet from a frigid February, March’s maple syrup season started slowly. Tree roots were frozen, and the freeze at night, thaw during the day cycle had not yet pumped sap into full-speed action.
However, Mr. Dick happily noticed sap gathering in buckets in warmer areas of the camp on a recent morning; up a trail leading to Vesper Hill, the sap was not yet dripping from taps into buckets.
Geese honked overhead. Lacy crystals of ice crackled under feet along trails. Coal-colored critters scolded as interlopers trudged into their territory. Perched atop tree branches, the squirrels chitter-chattered as tails curved like commas.
In addition to the brunch, the maple syrup event today will feature horse-drawn wagon rides to show off the camp that celebrates its world of wonder.
Since 1946 4-H Camp Palmer has offered programs to youth, families, and community groups from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. Nestled in the farmlands of northwest Ohio, the 157-acre oasis of woodland draws 6,000 people to retreats annually.
This is the first maple syrup-making program planned to draw the public to the camp, and the activities could prompt people to donate to the new pool. The big splash — the pool’s grand opening — is scheduled for 3 p.m. May 31, Mr. Goodson said.
The first school group coming to camp this year is Horizon Science Academy of Toledo in early April. Toledo-area band camps that are coming in the summer that will receive direct benefit from the new pool include Eastwood, Start, Rogers, Woodward, and Bowsher high schools, Mr. Goodson said.
Maple syrup was made as a hobby of sorts at the camp years ago, said Mr. Dick, who lives near Montpelier. He recalled when he joined the camp’s board in 1995 he found no-longer-used maple syrup-making equipment in a barn. The items were donated to the Northwest Ohio Maple Syrup Producers; that organization will host its annual maple festival Saturday at the Williams County Fairgrounds.
Maple syrup continues to surge in popularity, Mr. Dick said, noting demand for his maple syrup has been growing exponentially in recent years with the increasing interest in people eating healthful foods and as more people become aware of the sources of their food and what goes into that food.
Maple syrup is high in antioxidants, similar to raspberries and blueberries, Mr. Dick noted.
Plus, it is a popular ingredient when stirred into ice cream, poured over pancakes and waffles, or drizzled over fresh-from-the-oven desserts (think French toast casserole, homemade with lush layers of goodness, served after Easter sunrise services).
Maple syrup, as does wine, varies from grower to grower and from region to region. Timing of the maple syrup production plays a flavorful role as well, from the delicate light amber made early in the season to the more intense dark amber made later in the sugaring season.
Mr. Goodson said he was interested in producing maple syrup from trees on the campgrounds in part because it shows visitors how local resources can provide natural foods.
“Maple syrup is the real thing. We can use the sap as a product in an educational program,” Mr. Goodson said, noting that trees dotted with buckets trigger nostalgia, and he declared, as others do, that maple syrup making is a seasonal rite. “You know when the sap is flowing, we are on our way to spring.”
Ohio is in the sweet spot for syrup production; the syrup is made in 66 of Ohio’s 88 counties. The Ohio Maple Producers Association notes that state lawmakers have passed legislation officially making March Maple Month in Ohio. Maple, according to the association, is an important part of the state’s history and culture.
Too, the syrup has a positive economic impact, not only from sales but from tourism as people seek out the “maple experience.” The two-weekend Maple Madness Driving Tour of selected maple sugaring operations across Ohio wraps up today.
When people taste real maple syrup, Mr. Dick said, the reaction is pretty typical: “I am going to eat the real stuff from now on.”
Maple syrup products made by Mr. Dick and his brother Lamar, of Hamilton, Ind., include maple sugar candy and maple cream.
Their father, Dallas, is the full-time foreman. He taught his sons, including Lee, how to tap trees, gather sap, boil it down, and bottle it. It’s time-consuming and labor intensive.
Mr. Dick wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves being outdoors, and he finds the family tradition appealing, particularly after long winters. An assistant professor with Ohio State University Extension, Mr. Dick is a field specialist in volunteerism and 4-H Community Clubs.
Maple syrup has a long history as a food product in the United States. Native Americans shared the secret of the sap with pioneers who made maple sugar, a portable product with a long shelf life. The sugar was used as a bartering item.
The maple syrup program today is a good fit with the outdoor components of the camp, Mr. Goodson pointed out.
On a recent day, in the Dicks’ modern sugarhouse near Montpelier, Mr. Dick kept an eye on a thermometer as vats of sap heated in an evaporator.
At one time, sugar shacks used wood as a heat source to condense sap into syrup, but that added labor... chop wood, tend the fire, stoke the fire.
Automation, including a reverse osmosis machine, saves time and energy today. Special instruments, including a hydrometer, are used as the process moves the product toward the bottling phase. The finished product, often marketed in jugs, is sold to an eagerly-awaiting public.
Forecasts are optimistic for hundreds of people to take part today in the Camp Palmer activities, and Mr. Goodson said the anticipated good turnout is linked to winter. “I know there is cabin fever out there.”
Making maple syrup is a new tradition, and new traditions are good, Mr. Goodson said.
“We hold onto our great traditions here at Camp Palmer. Why not expand on our successes?”
Contact Janet Romaker at: 419-724-6006 or jromaker@theblade.com.
First Published March 22, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
