Once upon a time a boy was born in a bedroom, in a house near the Ottawa River—known locally as Hog Creek—not far from Elida, Ohio. There, he joined four older brothers on a small farm, where life was simple and wholesome. The boy was a quiet one—introverted and shy—and more than anything, he loved the outdoors, nature, animals, farm-life, and wildlife. He did not enjoy being around people, except for family and a few friends.
The boy loved books. One of his early favorites was “The Biggest Bear,” by Lynd Ward. It made him wish he had his own pet bear. He especially liked the end, where Johnny could visit his bear every day and bring it a lump of maple sugar.
Books about pioneers and Indians became his passion, and the boy wished he had been born two hundred years earlier, where he could have lived the stories he loved to read. Since it was not possible to go back in time, the boy did what he could to experience some things he had read about. He would take many hikes along the river with brothers and cousins and pretend to be an Indian, or a pioneer. This was one way to enter the world of yesteryear—if only in his imagination.
Somewhere along the line, the boy learned that Indians had discovered maple syrup. They had passed this information on to the settlers, and over the course of many years, the collection of sap and the production of maple syrup had become a booming industry. So the boy who loved nature, became interested making some maple syrup. He gathered up some supplies, and using only the most elementary information, set out to harvest some sap.
His first attempts were very crude. Using a large one-inch diameter drill bit, and an old hand auger, the boy—now thirteen years old—drilled deeply into a lovely back-yard maple, and was delighted to see sap dripping from the hole. Next, he slid a short length of pipe into the hole, drove a large nail into the tree above the pipe, and hung a bucket on the nail. He didn’t stop until seven or eight beautiful maples had been tapped. The boy was excited to watch the sap begin dripping into the buckets. The unfortunate part was that most of it was running down the tree due to the pipe not fitting tightly in the holes.
The maple syrup project would most likely have ended in failure, except for the help of an evangelist, Fred Augsburger, who was staying in the boy's home for a week, while holding revival meetings. Turns out, Fred was experienced with maple syrup production, and while the boy was at school, he went out to the trees and drove little wedges around the tops of the pipe, and managed to stop most of the leaking. He also said he would send the boy some real tapping spiles for the next year.
The evangelist kept his word, and for the next several years the boy used the nice tapered spiles that fit snugly into 7/16 size holes, drilled about 2-1/2 inches into the trees. The trees loved this new arrangement, and breathed a sigh of relief at the much more reasonable sized holes. And the boy managed to make several gallons of syrup each year—enough for his family, and little to sell.
Now fast forward a few years. The boy became a man, and began a family of his own. He was fortunate to have two maple trees where he lived, and continued to produce a small amount of maple syrup—still using the spiles that the evangelist had given him.
A few years later, the man and his growing family moved to a location where ten nice mature maple trees provided shade, and the potential for a good supply of maple syrup. But now with ten trees, it was impossible to boil the sap on the kitchen stove. Something different had to be done. Fortunately, there was free natural gas on this farm, and the man thought to himself, "I will build a little shanty, and put an old gas kitchen stove in it to boil the sap."
And that's exactly what he did. He also built a stainless steel pan that covered all four burners, and was now in business. It was a great delight to see the steam billowing out of the tiny little building that closely resembled an out-house—but with a much sweeter scent.
After several years of making maple syrup for his family like this, and sharing it with friends and neighbors at Christmas time, an interesting thing happened: A neighbor man who observed the process, and who had enjoyed his pint of Christmas syrup, wanted to tap his trees too. Soon he was also supplying his family with the delectable maple sweetness.
Then the neighbor, after a year or two of making his own syrup, suggested that the two of them should also tap the trees at their church, and have a pancake meal to support missions. And so they did. They called it the Maple Syrup For Missions Festival. It was a success, and the proceeds that year went to support one of the church's missionaries.
The idea of having an annual Maple Syrup Missions Festival quickly became a reality, and in the following years, the men tapped a lot more trees—mostly yard trees belonging to other members of their church.
This was the birthing process of what has become a popular annual event in the community.
Looking back, it was a simple idea with an interesting string of events that led to this point. Without taking any credit for the outcome, the boy, now a sixty-two year old man, would like to recognize how God’s hand has been involved in the process from the beginning. Ever since He put the shy little fellow on the earth, and made him to love nature, He knew where it would lead. And the man is grateful that Maple Syrup can be used to support a variety of mission projects in this community, and in far away places.
The 18th Annual Maple Syrup Missions Festival will be held on Saturday, March 28, from 7:00 to 10:30 AM at the Sonnenberg Mennonite Fellowship Hall, on Hackett Road – just east of Kidron. Everyone is invited to attend and enjoy a scrumptious meal that includes homemade pancakes, fresh homemade German sausage patties and links, Maine blueberry sauce, and real maple syrup. The meal is served on a donation basis. Extra syrup and sausage will be available to purchase as well.
From Kidron, Ohio, the place where dreams come true, we leave you with hopes that warmer weather will arrive soon. The steadfast men are becoming weary of shoveling snow, the lovely ladies are feeling housebound, and the children are getting too many snow-days off from school. Once again, it’s time to tap the Maple trees.
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