Shown above Norah (left) and her sister, Sarah Jane, at their Spencerville farm sugar bush, in 1955

The maple syrup season has long been viewed as the promise of the coming of spring. If the nights remained cold while the days warmed, then “the run” was on. As a child, I remember hoping there would still be enough snow on the ground to allow my dad, my sisters, my brother and I to ride on our sap sleigh, drawn by our pair of white horses, into the bush. We children tasted from the buckets as they were gathered. In the sap house, the tasting continued, as it did in the kitchen at supper, with my mom’s pancakes, dad’s delicious homemade sausage and fresh syrup!

I remember being proud to see the family farm’s name on the cans of maple syrup for sale and proud again when the syrup won a prize at the Spencerville Fair.

But Maple in the County isn’t about living in the past, even if it does bring those memories back from fifty years ago. Maple in the County is about a newer rural Ontario where people partner to make good things happen.

Thousands of people visited Maple in the County last year. That means that both urban and local people visited a farm and learned about the process of making syrup, enjoyed rural hospitality, and, in many cases, took home a taste of farm gate product.

It means they experienced the positive results of partnering between different sectors in the community – agriculture, hospitality, the arts, and more. They saw rural Ontario being innovative and working with others to build a sound economy.

They saw rural Ontario being a great place to live and work in the twenty-first century.

And that is what Maple in the County is all about – a fresh start on a new year filled with promise for the future.

The Waring House is proud to co-sponsor this event with our local maple syrup producers.

Norah Rogers
The Waring House Inn