MSPAC Annual Meeting Highlights
Recognition Awards. Ron and Joyce Wenzel were recognized for the leadership in organizing the 2012 NAMSC/IMSI international conferences held in Mystic in October and Rich and Avis Norman were recognized for their long-standing service to the maple industry in Connecticut and internationally.
Membership dues. The President reported that the Directors recommended holding dues at $25 for the 2014 year since there was concern that if dues were increased it might adversely impact membership. A healthy discussion of the membership followed with virtually all comments being in favor of raising the dues to $30. This increase was proposed and passed unanimously. Officers and Directors elections. Directors for 2 year terms: Rick Blauvelt-East, Kay Carroll-West, Rick Goulet-West, Geoff Picard – East Officers for 1 year: President-Mark Harran, Vice-President-Bob Dubos, Treasurer-Buster Scranton, Secretary-Chuck Drake. Brian Atwood declined the nomination for Vice-President, a position he held for 9 years, citing personal and work related obligations. Pre-season meeting is scheduled for January 12 at Haddam Extension Center. The speaker will be Jeff Francois Goulet, the VP of Marketing for LaPierre. ALB/EAB. In July, EAB was found in four New Haven County towns – Beacon Falls, Bethany, Naugatuck and Prospect. They are surveying to define the affected area and imposing quarantine on wood movement. A note was sent from the team managing tracking of ALB and EAB for the State noting that both of these beetles normally attack high in the tree so the current tree damage from storms offers an to opportunity to inspect the tops of the trees that fell. Look for evidence of the beetles in the fallen trees and make sure that anyone doing tree work for you is aware of this as well. Maple 101. Steve Broderick is teaching this course again. Class size is limited to 25. It will be held at Goodwin on the evenings of 11/28 and 12/5 and during the day of 12/8. Cost is $40/person including the manual. Volunteers to support Steve should contact Mark Harran. If you have interest in having a course held in the western part of the State, contact Mark Harran @ 860-567-3805. The Maple Cookbook – Connecticut Style. A limited number of books were printed for the international meetings and the Annual MSPAC meeting. They are priced at $15. If you would like to get some copies, contact Kay Carroll. Ag Day at the Capitol. This day is the 3rd week in March and it is our opportunity to have a presence with ALL the legislators. Any ideas as to how to make our exhibit more engaging are welcome. Contact Art Roy. Maple Nutrition. There are materials available explaining the nutritional values of maple syrup and comparisons to other sweeteners and foods that are high in anti-oxidants. Contact Mark Harran if you would like some. Sugarhouses Open to the Public. For those who want to participate in this brochure an ad is $40. Ron Wenzel needs the form and the check to him no later than December 10, 2012. The official business meeting was adjourned at 10:33 AM and after a 30-minute break, two information sessions followed up to the departure time of about 1pm. Both were well received. The first one was a panel discussion featuring Bruce Bascom, Mike Girard and Rob Lamothe. With audience interaction, it provided helpful insights into the important factors shaping the maple syrup industry and the implications for Connecticut maple producers. A second brief presentation covered some key areas and questions that a maple producer might consider as part of a review of insurance coverage needs.
Want to try your hand at making maple syrup? Then join us for a 3-part course on becoming a
maple sugarmaker at the Goodwin Forest Conservation Education Center. This soup-to-nuts course will include a written manual and cover such topics as the health and management of maple trees, tapping, collecting & storing sap, and making and packaging syrup, with an emphasis on quality control throughout the process. Whether you want to make a few gallons or run a commer- cial operation, this course will provide the fundamentals essential to making a good, consistent and delicious product. Click here for the Maple 101 brochure. COURSE OUTLINE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 7:00—9:15 P.M. (SNOW DATE NOVEMBER 29) *Introduction, history of maple production * Planning your operation: time & cost consid- erations, purchasing equipment * Tree health and management: species to tap, tree health issues, managing forest trees vs. roadside trees *Why, when and how sap flows *The tapping process WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 7:00-9:15 P.M. (SNOW DATE DECEMBER 6) * Collection & storage of sap * Types of collection systems * Tubing materials, layout, maintenance & cleaning * Filtering and handling to maintain quality * Syrup production * Evaporator function, design, operation * Finishing standard density syrup *Filtering, grading, packaging * Marketing your products SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 9:00-11:30 A.M. (SNOW DATE DECEMBER 15) Field session: visit to a managed sugarbush and sugar- house, review all of the above.
Maple Syrup Producers
Association of Connecticut, Inc. MSPAC Pre-Season Meeting Agenda January 12, 2013 Haddam Extension Center 8 am Coffee and donuts 9 am Business Meeting 10 am Refreshment Break 10:30 am “Technology Options Available for the Small to Medium Producer,” Jean-Francois Goulet, LAPIERRE 1 pm Adjournment A Message From the President January 12, 2013 is the date. Our pre-season meeting will be held at the Haddam Extension Center. It will begin at 8 am with coffee and donuts and end at 1 pm. An hour-long business meeting will begin at 9 am. At 10:30am, after a refreshment break, we will hear a presentation by Jean-Francois (Jeff) Goulet, LAPIERRE Maple Equipment Company, which will be followed by a panel discussion with full audience participation, much like the one we had at our membership meeting on November 10. Jeff is the Sales and Marketing Director of LAPIERRE, operating out of St-Ludger, Quebec. His topic is “Technology Options Available for the Small to Medium Maple Producer.” In his presentation, Jeff will review a number of equipment options and their financial payback implications. These will include ones currently available as well as some under development, all of which deliver high-quality results in a price range that fits the budget of the small to medium producer. Among those covered will be smaller Reverse Osmosis machines, vacuum releasers geared for 500 taps or fewer, and a “sap puller” sized for 300 taps or fewer. He will also provide a number of practical ideas on how a small to medium producer can improve productivity and quality with his/her current operation. Jeff brings extensive “hands-on” maple experience combined with involvement in the creation, production and marketing of a number of new products, such as reduced-diameter spouts, main line connectors, polycarbonate disposable spouts, Force-5 efficient wood furnace and high vacuum pumps, to name a few. This combination provides him with a rather unique knowledge and experience base. He has been in the maple industry for 30 years. For about half that time he ran a 5,500-tap sugar bush. While not sugaring, he worked for IPL,a pioneer in vacuum-assisted tubing, and then left to work with Donald Lapierre about 7 years ago. Along the way, he spent several years on the Administrative Council of Center Acer, a premier maple research organization, located in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec. After his presentation, Jeff will join a panel of four Connecticut sugar makers to discuss the implications of what he has presented and to take questions from the audience. All in all, it should be an informative and rewarding day for everyone in attendance. Incidentally, during the recent NAmSC/IMSI meeting in Mystic, Jeff discovered he is related, albeit distantly, to our own Rick Goulet and Art Roy, both MSPAC directors, so he will definitely have a Connecticut state-of-mind on January 12, 2013. Looking back, I think our November 10 membership meeting was well received by all those in attendance. For you who could not attend, included herein are some highlights excerpted from the draft minutes. The complete draft minutes of that meeting will be available soon on the MASPC web site as well as at our next membership meeting, when they will be up for approval. I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at the Haddam Extension Center. In the meantime, I wish you and your family Happy Holidays!
Coming soon.
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