What began in 2005 at the Alcona Community Schools with a project to tap the maples in the school forest for maple syrup has become a very successful and ambitious endeavor involving the high school's agriscience students and the FFA chapter.
A sugar shack was constructed that fall by students, FFA members, and community volunteers. With an attached log cabin "classroom" the project resulted in a state of the art maple syrup production facility and learning center.
The project now includes "buckets" fed by taps and tubes from the many mature maples that line the backroads of the county.
This week saw the start of collecting the sap and producing syrup, with an estimated 10,000 gallons of sap harvested, and a average ratio of 40 gallons sap to one gallon of maple syrup. The syrup is then marketed and sold at a profit.
An outstanding achievement for a small rural school!
www.nemiglsi.org/project.asp?ait=av&aid=14
