Maple syrup season is upon us in Clearfield County.
While driving along, you may spot a maple tree with a spout and bucket. The tapping of maple trees in the spring is a tradition that has been around for centuries.
Back in the spring of 1972, Andy McKeown of Grampian explained his technique in an interview to The Progress.
McKeown gave a tour of his “sugar house,” which was nestled in a grove of red maple trees.
He made his own unique two bucket shoulder yoke for carrying the tree nectar from the 50 some trees he tapped to his sugar house.
He talked about how he would strain the sap and then boil it for perhaps days at a time. McKeown said, “A lot of people don’t know we do this around here.”
He added, “The finished product tastes like … well, it tastes like gold.” The tradition lives on throughout the backwoods of Clearfield County.
This year a Clearfield County resident took first place at the Pennsylvania Farm Show with his maple syrup.
Scott Kolesar of Spring Valley produces his own syrup from a grove of sugar maples on his property in his “sugar shack.”
The next time you pour maple syrup over your stack of pancakes, you’ll definitely appreciate all the hard work.
