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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-04-01, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1987. PAGE 5. A group of visitors from the Waterloo area pauses to examine sap simmering in a huge iron kettle over an open fire, a demonstration of how early pioneers made maple syrup, usually the only sweetener included in their diet. Maple Keys has a large number of pioneer Maple Keys Sugar Bush MVCA brings history to life One of the most popular rites of spring in north Huron County is the annual trek to the Maple Keys Sugar Bush in Grey Township, where hundreds of visitors each year can watch maple syrup being made and delight in the taste of the truly Canadian delicacy. During the time the sap is running, the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) holds an open house at the 90-acre maple bushlot, hosting hundreds of visitors each year to a “ Pancake Day” and to the hilarious shenani­ gans of teams of local council members and media personnel which vie for the coveted “Maple Madness” award, tallying points toward the trophy in events such as a pancake flipping relay race and pancake eating. A major highlight for visitors are the walkabouts guided by MVCA staff, in which small groups are taken on a complete tour of maple syrup history from early pioneer days until the present, with working exhibits carefully set up to show how the sap was collected and boiled from the days of hollowed- out basswood logs right up to the modern pipeline methods of today. Located on Grey sideroad 30-31, two concession south of Highway 86 near Molesworth, the sugar bush is open to the public all year round for nature hikes and picnics. MVCA staffer “Sadie the Pioneer” [a.k.a. Esther Bush of Gorrie] delights a large group of visitors with her authentic demonstration of maple syrup making as practised by the Indians long before the white settlers arrived in Canada. Using Forked sticks, Sadie picks hot rocks out of a campfire and drops them into ahollowed-out basswood log containing maple sap. With the sudden addition of heat, water is driven out as clouds of steam, eventually leaving behind only pure maple syrup, which is then strained to remove the debris. Little Sean English celebrated his fourth birthday by going to see how maple sugar is made, testing the quality of the sap right at the source. Sean is the son of Harper and Lea English of Wingham. The hand-carved wooden bucket and home-made hardwood spile are authentic reproductions of original maple syrup equipment, two of many such items of early Canadians in actual use at the Grey Township sugar bush. March, MVCA staff is always on hand throughout the two weekends which usually make up the syrup­ making season of “Pancake Days.’’ There is no admission charge, andvisitorscan wander freely about the entire site at any hour of the day. The International Scene Tips on being well-read BY RAYMOND CANON If you are going to keep up with what is going on in the world, it is generally assumed that you do a bit of reading on the matter and on a regular basis at that. It won’t do to look at the 30 or 60 second film clips which are a daily feature on T.V. news programs since they are far too brief to do anything more than give the viewer a glimpse of the current situation. Frequently the sameT.V. stationswill use nothing more than clips from their files which means that they are showing you something that has happened in the past and which is similar but not identical to current events. For this reason if you feel that you are not able to keep up with world events but would like to, let me give you the following prescrip­ tion: Above all, get yourself a good atlas and go over it thoroughly. It will be counterproductive to try to figure out from the news reports what is going on in, say, Afghani­ stan when you have no idea precisely where the country is or which other countries border on it. A few minutes with an atlas will be sufficient to understand why it is that Pakistan gets mentioned so frequently, especially when it is a question of a peace treaty between the Russian-supported regime in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan on one side and the Afghan rebels on the other. The same goes for other coun­ tries in the news. Let me ask you a couple of questions. Can you tell me without looking at a map what countries border on Lebanon? Where are the following places thathavefrequently beenin the news- Chad, Ecuador, Kazakh­ stan, Zimbabwe? See what I mean! Now that we have the question of geography settled, what reading should you undertake each week? If I were to be sent off to a desert island, I would make sure that I had the British news magazine, the Economist, mailed to me each week, even if 1 got no other magazine. Don’t let the name fool you. While it does have some articles on economics in each of its issues, it is much more a news magazine and in this respect it is head and shoulders above any American counterpart such as Time or Newsweek. To give you an idea of its contents, it has a series of lead articles on any number of current topics followed by articles on the United States, Europe and Britain as well as a number of an international nature. There are business, finance and science sections followed by book reviews. Needless to say there are letters to the editor. This is a magazine that you can read from cover to cover and I do just that. I can’t even wait for it to come by post, given the vagaries of our postal system and thus I have one of the local newsstands save it for me when it comes in. My wife can vouch for the fact that, if the Economist is a day late, I am nothing less than crotchety for the entire day. She is almost prepared to drive toToronto to get a copy if that would make me any happier. For Canadians the chief maga­ zine to read is MacLean’s although I find its quality to be somewhat uneven at times. Some of the writers are, to be sure, quite good and I never miss them. Others I tolerate - barely. However, it will give you a view of the world from a Canadian angle. The Globe and Mail claims to be Canada’s national paper and I guess I will have to take their word for it since it does come closest to being just that. It does have its bias which is at times quite noticeable but its business section is espe­ cially good. If I look at the Toronto Star at all, it is the Sunday edition. There are good summaries as well as some equally good in-depth reporting on certain topics. It is too bad that we have to wait through 20 minutes of the National before we come to the Journal since that is where the meat of the news is to be found. Incidentally, Canadian news programs are generally quite good compared to their American counterparts. That may be the reason why so many news people from Canada are offered jobs in the States in a similar capacity. Don’t expect to become totally conversant overnight. It will take some time but it will be time well spent. If you persist, who knows, people might start coming to you for explanations, tacitly accepting you as the local expert. The possibilities are endless..........!