Producers worried about Maple Sunday

BUXTON – Maine Maple Sunday, which falls on the fourth Sunday in March, is the day when tens of thousands of visitors converge on the state’s sugarhouses, providing syrup producers with a shot of cash at a time when it’s badly needed.

This year, however, the event coincides with Easter Sunday, and some producers are worried that the shared date will mean fewer customers will enjoy pancake breakfasts or purchase jugs of syrup.

Some farmers, including Ramona Snell at the Snell Family Farm in Buxton, have decided to get around the problem by opening their sugarhouses to the public a week earlier. She has renamed this year’s event “Maple Celebration,” and is inviting visitors March 19-20.

But this year’s unseasonably cold weather could put a crimp in those plans. As of last week, the sap wasn’t flowing, and Snell Family Farm had yet to tap any of its trees.

Most sugarhouses, however, are sticking with March 27, which gives them another week for the weather to improve. But they are anxious about how many of their regular guests will trade dress shoes and Easter bonnets for boots and warm hats.

“It’s not a real good situation,” said Lyle Merrifield at Merrifield Farms in Gorham. “It’s a family holiday. It’s too bad to have to choose between Maine Maple Sunday and going to grandma’s house for lunch.”