Maine Maple Sunday is an annual tradition held on the fourth Sunday of March where thousands of Mainers visit sugarhouses across the state to see the maple syrup harvesting process and sample the new syrup. It began 30 years ago when five sugarmakers sought to promote the industry and has since grown significantly. Today most sugarmakers use plastic tubing and vacuum pumps rather than buckets to more efficiently collect sap from their 1,000+ taps. Visiting a sugarhouse on Maine Maple Sunday has become a celebration of spring where people can learn about maple syrup production and sample various maple products.

1. By James Peak
Portland Press Herald/
Maine Sunday Telegram
This Sunday, thousands of Mainers will trudge through the mud and snow to sugarhouses
across the state to taste this year’s harvest of maple syrup. It’s a tradition that got its start
30 years ago and is still going strong.
A lot has changed in Maine over the past three decades, but this annual celebration of
spring, which is always held on the fourth Sunday of March, has remained a constant.
That wouldn’t have happened without the foresight of a group of five sugarmakers – Ted
Greene, Jack Steeves, Peter Tracey, Bob Smith and John Hodgkins, said Roberta Morrill,
vice president of the Southern Maine Maple Sugarmakers Association.
“While they may not have thought of themselves as visionaries at the time, the legacy of
Maine Maple Sunday lives on. It is a wonderful opportunity to teach the public about the
process, help to build an awareness and appreciation for agricultural partners in the
community, and (learn about) the availability of a healthy food source locally. How
could they have known then what a tradition they were creating?” Morrill said.
As the celebration has grown and evolved over the years, so too has the number of
sugarmakers participating in the event and how they harvest sap. Dewey Lloy of Balsam
Ridge Farm in Raymond and a member of the same association as Morrill, is one
example. Lloy got his start tapping trees and making maple syrup 14-15 years ago when
he got involved with his daughter’s third-grade school project.
Lloy started out with just nine taps and buckets. Now, he and his wife Sharon have 1,000
taps, and six years ago they built their first authentic sugarhouse. While they still use a
few buckets, most of their taps are connected to plastic tubing and a vacuum pump. The
tubing leads to their sugarhouse, where the sap is collected, filtered and run through a
reverse osmosis unit to remove water, then boiled down further in an evaporator to
concentrate the sugar before it is graded and hot-packed. Their goal is a product with a
minimum of 66 percent sugar content to meet Maine state requirements.
A typical day of making syrup starts about 6 to 7 a.m. for Lloy and his wife. “Hopefully,
we’re done by the time supper comes, but we have had days where we’re working until
midnight. When you get more sap flow, you just have to step it up,” he said.
While some of the state’s older generation visiting a maple syrup producer today might
be surprised to see so much plastic tubing attached to taps, it has become the primary
method of gathering sap because it’s more efficient than using buckets.
More often than not in Maine, sugarmakers also are employing vacuums to encourage
good sap flow from their trees even on marginal days. Lloy is quick to point out that
sugarmakers aren’t using vacuums to suck sap out of maple trees. The ultimate goal of

2. the device is to have the tree experience a pressure change at the tap hole, he said.
“Many syrup producers are using vacuum pumps because of a change in the climate in
the past five to seven years,” Lloy said. “We’ve seen years where we’ve warmed up very
rapidly. This year, although we’re on track with some pretty good weather patterns, I
started (gathering sap) a little earlier than I used to. We started the weekend before the
blizzard and had been intending to tap vigorously.”
Lloy’s aim was to be all tapped in by Presidents Day, so while most folks stayed inside
during the blizzard last month, Lloy was busy putting in 100 taps. “It was harsh out
there,” he said.
Despite the vagaries of the weather, visitors to the state’s sugarhouses can expect a
variety of sweet products from which to choose and, of course, will get a taste of all-
natural Maine maple syrup for free, often drizzled on a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
“The day has become a celebration of spring with some attendees making a day of it –
traveling from sugarhouse to sugarhouse to take in breakfast, a variety of farm animals to
visit, activities for young and old to participate in, yummy lunch offerings, and any
number of sweet confections to top off the day,” said Morrill, of Nash Valley Farm in
Windham.
The Southern Maine Maple Sugarmakers Association invites you to be part of the 30th
anniversary of Maple Sunday. Enjoy!