Maple in the County celebrations a sweet success

Maple's Mabel danced with children attending Family Day festivities at the Wellington arena Saturday.

A strong, bright sun and a light, March wind presided over Day One of the 10th annual Maple in the County celebrations. Record crowds from near and far gathered Saturday at Prince Edward County sap houses, pancake breakfasts, community halls, town halls, downtowns and rural locations to celebrate the first harvest of the year.
The maple festival continues Sunday with pancake breakfasts, sap house tours, wagon rides, maple treats, walks in the sugar bush, with maple processing, celebration and treats in more than 35 locations.

The Fifth Town Cheese Company at Waupoos was overflowing with visitors Saturday who attended to taste the award-winning Maple Chèvre Cheese Cake tarts, the new Maple Quark and many handmade and cave-aged cheeses.

BELOW: The Empire Jr. C champion Picton Pirates hosted a pancake breakfast at the Picton United Church; Hubbs Sugarbush in Ameliasburgh hosted a day of maple demonstrations, tours and delicious maple food; Singer Celine Papizewska at the Bloomfield Town Hall in an old-style presentation of chamber songs with a spring theme; children at the Family Day in Wellington enjoyed participating in a communal papier mache project and hearing children’s entertainer Andy Forgie; The mystery of how the sap gets from the tree bucket to the tabletop is solved for those who take the sugar bush tours.

BELOW:
The Picton BIA’s Elizabeth Street Maple festivities included loads of family fun, including rock wall climbing, face painting, a giant checkers game, magic show and balloon animals. Sue Purdy, of I Love Lucy’s Fries, watches as a customer shares her special maple-infused sweet potato fries with Dingo the Dog; Lisa Heffernan, of Community Living, had just enough candy apples to satisfy the crowds and Prince Edward County Firefighters delighted hungry guests helping the cooks S’mores over an open fire. They and BIA executive director Roni Summers Wickens laugh as the BIA’s Norman Markland sets his marshmallow on fire!

BELOW: The Spring Craft and Farm Market, held for the first time during Maple in the County, upstairs at Books & Company, was packed with browsers and buyers. Buffy Carruthers, Margie Kormann and Alice Mennacher offered an outstanding array of maple goodness – including caramel apple nut popcorn, maple nut bars, maple carrot cake and maple cookies. Amy Shubert, of the Merrill Inn, added to the maple delights with her Waupoos Cider salad dressing, Blueberry maple syrup, maple pecan popcorn and much more. Hospice Prince Edward volunteers Stuart Brown and Annette Gaskin show off the new T-shirts and tote bags being sold along with fundraising notecards and posters. Ian Batt, of Scottish Accents, writes out his maple specials while Vicki’s Veggies offers up carrots for breakfast. Lise Noakes, of the County Handspinners, shared her craft with passersby.

Maple in the County Spring Market