Plymouth Maple Festival to dedicate new Sugar Shack at Maple Festival in April

Yahoo

28-03-2025

PLYMOUTH – With recent cold nights and warm days, the many maples at City Park are bursting with sap and the new 18-foot-by-24-foot sugar shack will be busy boiling down the sap into tasty maple syrup, according to the Plymouth Maple Association.
Leaders of the association helped City Park build the Plymouth Sugar Shack. The structure was constructed by Plymouth High School students under the direction of Beau Biller. Many local businesses and individuals donated funds and materials for the project.
The project started in fall 2024, association member John Nelson said. Quasius Construction poured the slab and Taylor Concrete donated the concrete. The building's electric power for lighting is generated via solar panels on a nearby shed. The sap evaporator is wood-fired.
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City Park will dedicate the new Plymouth Sugar Shack at the park April 5 during the fourth annual Maple Festival.
According to Nelson, who is also operator of Molly's Maple, the festival's primary goal is offer something fun and educational for the community.
"A lot of people are going to come here and just see this process," he said.
As an example, students from nearby Riverview Middle School will pick up information about making maple syrup, something he thinks they will remember their whole lives, he added.
Early in March, about 100 students from Riverview Middle School walked over to the park and tapped many maple trees. According to the association, groups of students have been coming over as needed, collecting the sap to be boiled by Nelson at the new facility.
The new Plymouth Sugar Shack is capable of boiling 25 gallons of maple sap an hour, Nelson said. It takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.
Association member Barb Drewy-Zimmerman, operator of Drewy Farms Maple Syrup, said enough sap has been boiled to make an estimated 20 gallons of syrup from the park's trees. Some of the syrup will be used for the pancake breakfast at upcoming fourth annual Maple Festival April 5, while some will be given to area schools.
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Syrup left to sell will need a special name for the bottled maple syrup, Drewy-Zimmerman said. She said a contest is being held during the festival with people voting on the top submitted names. People can submit suggestions until 5 p.m. April 1 at plymouthmaplefestival.com
The Plymouth Maple Festival, which runs 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at City Park in Plymouth, will feature a pancake breakfast and vendors selling maple syrup, foods and crafts. An open-door Bird Sanctuary will be featured and chainsaw wood carver Zac Koenig will be giving demonstrations.
Gary C. Klein can be reached at 920-453-5149 or [e-mail]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @leicaman99. Check out his other work at www.sheboyganpress.com/staff/4383066002/gary-c-klein/.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Maple Festival at Plymouth City Park will feature new Sugar Shack