The Rural Voice, 1998-03, Page 38it__
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31st Annual <-
Visit BELMORE
the Hamlet with a Heart
during our
MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL
Thursday, April 9, 1998 9:30 - 2:00
(on Thursday we cater to Seniors
but ALL are Welcome!)
Saturday, AprII 11, 1998 10:00 - 7:00
Belmore Community Centre
No Admission Chargee
• MEAL PRICE
Adults - $7.00
Children (6 - 11) - =4.00
Children 5 & under - FREE
You can have all the MAPLE SYRUP and
PANCAKES you can eat.
Homemade sausage. applesauce and butter
for your pancakes and a beverage are
included in the cost of your meal.
All are served with a SMILE
and Country Hospitality.'
For your further enloyment ... • Food Booth
• Displays & Demonstrations • Quilt display • 'Share
the Wealth' Bingo • Souvenirs • Entertainment for
young and old throughout the day • Craft Show
• Farmers sausage, pork chops and ribs • Homemade
bread, rolls, pies, cakes, cookies, etc. • Local food
products.
SATURDAY EVENING...
Dance to "LULU'S ROADHOUSE BAND"
(Age of majority • 0.P.P. Inepeced)
Call 335-6233 for advance dance tickets.
AN eventMAacNNlee are indoors • Handicap Acceasble.
For further Festival info call 3354551 or 367-5699
POLY TANKS
STRONG, DURABLE
CONSTRUCTION
FOR TRANSPORT OR
STORAGE
Sizes from 12 gallons -
12,000 gallons
Hundreds of tanks in stock
ALPINE
PLANT FOODS CORP.
30 Neville St.
New Hamburg, Ont.
NOB 2G0
(519) 662-2352
1 (800) 265-2268
Fax: 1 (800) 807-4668
34 THE RURAL VOICE
there's a warning that
squirrels like Javex so the
tubing needs to be flushed
out repeatedly to remove
residues.
There are warnings
that storage tanks should
be located in cool, shaded
areas, away from heat
from the evaporator,
because warm sap will
become cloudy.
Workshop participants
rate their sugarhouse on
its cleanliness, with best marks or
buildings with concrete floors and
walls and surfaces that are easily
cleaned. There are warnings about
the danger of bare light -bulbs that
could shatter and contaminate the
syrup or using dairy cleaning
products because they can leave an
iodine residue to spoil the flavour.
There are tips for finishing and
filtering the syrup and on packaging
to make sure the product keeps its
full flavour.
sing the manual, workshop
U
participants rate their
operation from best to fair to
poor on each aspect, with best getting
three points and poor, one. In order to
win approval for use of the Seal of
Quality they must score at least 75
points from a 100 point potential.
Even those who make that score are
urged to design a plan of action to
improve their operation.
"It's a commitment. We want to
see progress over the years," says
Hazlitt, "that's why we have
monitors."
Other producers will monitor Seal
of Quality
applicants to see
that they are living
up to the plan they
agreed to. The
monitoring and
other costs of the
program are
Workshop participants look at every
aspect of their operation in
completing their plans.
producers, the cost isn't worth the
advantage, said one producer who
asked to remain nameless. The
program has caused a split in the
industry between large and small
producers this critic claimed.
"There've been some wild meetings."
The Seal of Quality program helps
the big producers who sell in bulk,
particularly those who are aiming at
the Japanese market, the producer
says. Smaller producers, who retail
directly to the public, already have a
bond of trust with their consumers.
"We can market more than we can
produce," the producer said.
Phil Riley of Riley Maple
Products at Dungannon certainly
could qualify for one of the larger
producers with 6,000 taps in his
operation. He strongly supports the
program. "It results in the consumer
being assured of quality," he says.
It has also made people think
about the process they go through
making syrup and
about how to
improve their
operation, Riley
says. At the
workshops, he says,
"Everybody was
learning from
Some producers
worry program
could become
compulsory
supported by an annual $50
registration fee, plus a one-time $50
fee. Applicants must also be a
member of the Ontario Maple Syrup
Producers Association, a cost of $55.
There is also a charge for the stickers
used on products to advertise the seal
of quality.
Those costs are among the
complaints of some critics who don't
want to join the program. For small
everybody. People really have a
strong desire to make a quality
product."
Riley, who sells nearly his entire
production at the wholesale level,
says he's been particularly impressed
at how the VQA helped rescue the
wine industry in the Niagara region
after it appeared doomed under free
trade. "Perhaps with a little time and
patience we can do the same," he