Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-05-26, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2005. PAGE 11 Recognition Bill Robinson of the Auburn area was inducted into the American Maple Museum Hall of Fame. He and his wife Susanne attended the special occasion in Croghan, New York. (Pnoto submitted) Robinson in Hall of Fame Bill Robinson of the Auburn area was inducted into the North American Maple Museum Hall of Fame on May 21. The honours were held in Croghan, New York where he and wife Susanne attended. The honour is in response to Bill’s many years of service to the Maple Council. Bill first attended the North American Maple Syrup Council (NAMSC) in 1980 and has only missed two meetings in 25 years. He has helped with the organization of the last two NAMSC meetings that were held in Ontario. Bill was nominated by Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association (OMSPA) to be an alternate and then a delegate to the council. He has also served on both the auditing and nominating committees of the council. Bill was the provincial director of the OMSPA from 1980 until 1992. He has participated on most of the committees of the OMSPA and was president of the association from 1988 - 1990. Bill was nominated by Ron Shaw of Orillia and the honour caps the fifth generation of worthy producer. In the 1861 census Bill’s great-great­ grandfather was noted as having made 50 pounds of sugar and in the next census, 10 years later, the farm produced 140 pounds of sugar. It seems the family was making improvements and upgrades even then. Bill, along with his brother Jim, started tapping trees on.the roadside and they boiled the sap on their mother’s stove, then moved to a sugar kettle outside the house. He graduated to a flat pan when they started, to tap more trees. After high school, he helped neighbour, Donald Thompson, make maple syrup for seven years and used buckets and a wood-fired evaporator and gravity flow tubing. „ B A ISO 9002 • Totally Safe & Nun-Tone • Carpets dry in 1-2 hours • All work fully guaranteed Independently Owned & Operated By Bill & Susan Meyers Chem-Dry Cafpet. Oriental Rug & Upholstery Cleaning Serving Huron County Nothing Works Like ChemDry Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning CHEM-DRY IS DRIER. CLEANER. HEALTHIER.™ Bill built a new sugar camp in 1975 with hydro, running water and washroom facilities. This was a huge improvement as you can well imagine. They established 3,800 taps on vacuum tubing in two bushes and boiled with a wood-fired evaporator. In 1980 a reverse osmosis machine was purchased to cut down on the boiling time. Bill rented more wood lots and bought some farms with large maple bushes and today the Robinsons have 12,000 taps in four woodlots. In 2002 a new sugar camp was built in the largest wood lot with 6,000 taps running right to the camp and a high pressure steam boiler was installed. Last year all the sap was boiled with high pressure steam along with the reverse osmosis machines. Bill has buried a lot of his main­ lines over the years using PVC pipe. The Robinsons have found there is a lot less maintenance to the buried lines as well as an added ease to of getting around in the bush throughout the year. The Maple Museum in Croghan was established in 1977 by people with a mutual interest and dedication to preserving the history and tools used for collecting and producing syrup as well as acknowledging the improvements and skills of the industry. Bill was one of two gentlemen being honoured this year, the other, being Hank Peterson of Northern Wisconsin. While this year the awards went to producers it is open to all those who benefit the industry, including inventors and manufacturers of equipment used in the maple industry. This is an honour without equal in the maple syrup industry and the community joins in congratulating Bill and the Robinson family on this enormous achievement. X SPECIAL OFFER! 10% OFF for Month of May with coupon Meyers Gentry 482-9010 1-888-879-4089 PEOPLE AROUND AUBURN By Debbie Bauer Call 529-7820 Wc would like to welcome Susan Smith and her lamily to the village. They have moved into the former John Van Veen home. Our deepest sympathy is extended to John and Jane Stryker on the passing of Jane’s father. Congratulations to Martin Sturzenegger who graduated from the agricultural program at Ridgetown College. He is employed as a member of the harvesting crew from Edmonton, Alberta. They will harvest a variety of crops as far south as Texas. Angelika Sturzenegger, has completed her first year in law and security administration and Erika Sturzenegger has completed her first year in massage therapy. Both girls attend Sir Fleming College at Peterborough. Slip and plant sale at Walkerburn Club’s meeting The next regular meeting of the Walkerburn Club is May 31, al the home of Pat Hunking. There will be a slip and plant sale. Ila Cunningham and Ethel Ball attended the sneak preview of The Quilt 2005 in Stratford on May 19. The club’s quilt Children of Many Nations, is on display at The Quilt in Stratford along with 150 other quilts donated by organizations and individuals. All are on display from May 19 to Nov. 6 at 55 Downie St. in Stratford. These quilts will be auctioned off at the Avon Theatre, Stratford, on Saturday, Nov. 12. In total they have received 392 quilts for 2005 and all these quilts may be seen at www.thequilt.com and you can even put a bid in on Retirement Sale Our entire inventory must go! Open Monday to Saturday 8 am - 6 pm GORE'S HOME HARDWARE 432 Queen St., Blyth 523-9273 Ann Vincent and her volunteers have been working at Camp Mcncsctung getting the Auburn cabin ready lor the season. Lillian Logtenberg is home from a hospital stay and we wish her a speedy recovery. She lives in Goderich now but was an Auburn community resident for many years Her Auburn friends wish her well Jell Carter has completed his second year at Fanshawe College, in the computer programmer Analyst course. He is doing a summer co-op placement, in London, al Computers For Schools. Their job is to program computers. Tor elementary school labs. Most of their computers are donated from different companies and corporations that are upgrading their computers, and they no longer have a use for the old ones. There was a track and field day for Hullett school on Thursday and the Auburn community children had lots of fun. On Sunday May 22 the family of the late Thomas A. Jardin assembled for their final farewell and committ il at Ball's Cemetery. Simple wildflowers, as Tom would have wished, were his floral tribute. your favourite quilt. Some of the quilts are travelling across Canada and will be on display in other cities. The money raised from the Walkerburn Club quilt will be donated to the Huron Perth Cancer Society to be used locally or in research. Wingham & Area Palliative Care Services, Inc. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thursday, June 2, 2005 Dessert & Coffee will be supplied Contact Muriel Coulles 357-1908 or Kathy Procter 357-2720 for more information FROM AUBURN Guest minister at Knox The guest minister at Knox United was Rev. Roy Nicol - Macdonald. His home church is North Street United in Goderich. This was a pulpit exchange within the conference so Rev. Pat Cook was preaching in Goderich. The message delivered in Auburn was. What’s In A Name? Greeters for the service were Ron, Alice and Caroline McDowell. Guests at Knox next Sunday will be Paul and Marilyn Elgie who are to fill in for Rev. Pat as she will be at conference. Paul and Marilyn are known for their lay ministry as well as for their musical talents.