Times-Advocate, 1984-04-11, Page 13Maple syrup sure
The short but sweet maple
syrup season is one of the
most dependable and reliable
harbingers of spring. Ivan
McClymont, Varna, has been
part of that annual rite ever
since he can remember, as
was his father before him.
McClymont recalls staying
home from school each year
to help gather sap with a
horse and team, or keep the
fire going under large flat
open pans where the sap was
kept boiling all day. By sup-
per time four or five gallons
KEEPING THE FIRE GOING — Ivan McClymont brings
in dry hardwood to feed the fire under the evaporators,
a never-ending part of the task of making maple syrup.
tl
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"4-111". -was
IN THE SUGAR BUSH -- Ivan McC ymont looks over
one of the many junctions where individual lines join
the main pipeline carrying sap to the sugar shack.
of the delicious amber liquid
would be drawn off, and the
whole process repeated the
following day.
Syrup -making has gradual-
ly evolved over the years. Sap
buckets were replaced by
plastic tubing in 1972 in the
McClymont sugar bush. The
250 rods of main line are left
permanently in place, and the
trees and smaller plastic lines
are colour-coded to facilitate
the yearly connection of the
1,200 taps scattered through
25 acres of bush.
The sap is pumped through
the lines to either a storage
tank or directly into the
evaporator pans.
When McClymont built his
present sugar shack in 1974
and installed a large
evaporator, he designed it to
be a one-man operation.
At one time, while sap
buckets were still being used,
the McClymonts hired help,
but found people were not that
interested in hard work, and
their wage demands were too
high. A crop cost study done
with assistance from the
department of agriculture in
the 1960s revealed Ivan and
his father were each
pocketing one dollar per hour
for their efforts, and paying
their assistants $1.25.
McClymont is not in-
terested in another cost study.
Producing an average of 150
gallons of first quality'maple
syrup each year and selling it
to customers, some of whom
have been buying McClymont
syrup for 30 years, is reward
enough.
McClymont enjoys setting
up each spring, and tries to
have everything ready to go
by the first of March. The
frosty nights and sunny days
that are ideal for encouraging
the sap to run caught him off
guard this year, coming in
mid-February.
Once production begins,
McClymont is as busy as the
proverbial one-armed paper
hanger. First thing each mor-
ning he sets the temperature
gauge for the evaporator at
zero in a pan of boiling water.
Maple syrup is reddy to be
drawn off at_seven degrees
abpve boiling, but the gauge
must be adjusted daily to
compensate for changes in at-
mospheric pressure.
• While everything is going
full blast, McClymont is
everywhere at once - check-
ing the level in the back pan,
ensuring enough sap is flow-
ing into the front elevator, ad-
justing the level in the supp-
ly tank and trying to keep ex -
Stanley sells property,
A delegation composed of
An y Megan, Bill Coleman,
Tom Monroe, Brian Decker
and Mrs. Joyce Hummel at-
tended the regular April
meeting of Stanley township
council to ask if something
could be done about the ex-
cessive amount of dust on the
Kippen Road west of Highway
four. Road superintendent
Bill Taylor will be asked td
monitor the situation closely,
and apply a heavy coat of
calcium chloride.
Stanley township has sold
its property south of Bayfield,
approximately 10 acres com-
prising part lots six and
seven, range 1, to Ed and
Marg Gale. The township no
longer needs this property
now that the municipal com-
plex has become a reality.
Jim Hill has been given the
contract to cut grass on the
ball diamond. His tender, the
lowest of five, offered to cut
diamond A for $12 per cutting,
$15 for diamond B, and $6 for
cutting the grass around the
cenotaph.
Shelly Hayter will operate
the concession booth at the
hall field.
Council accepted the tender
of U.R. Chittick, Ilderton, at
$1.87 per ton to crush and haul
20,000 tons of gravel onto
township roads, plus a loading
fee of 75t per ton. This tender
was the lowest of six, with the
highest price being $2.50 per
ton.
Rick Diemert has been
hired to cover the landfill site
oncea week at $82.50 per trip.
His was the lowest of four
tenders.
0
Harvey Hayter has been
appointed the new superVisor
of the landfill site.
Grader rental has been
raised from $35 to $40 per
hour (with driver) within the
township, and $50 outside
Stanley's boundaries.
Stanley's 'share of the 1984
Ausable-Bayfield Conserva-
tion Authority budget has
been set at $7,813.60,
representing 528 percent of
the total budget of $147,870.
A student will be hiredfor
the summer under the In-
volvement in Municipal Ad-
ministration program. The
employee will be kept oc-
cupied checking by-laws,
assisting with setting up a
new filing system when the of-
fice is moved to its new
quarters, and collating infor-
mation to be included in a
township book being prepared
for Stanley's centennial in
1986.
Council has been asked to
petition Union Gas to provide
a natural gas supply to some
areas in the township.
Clearing approved
Stephen township council
has given approval to
Dashwood Farms Limited for
bush clearing at Lot 23, Con-
cession 7 and Lot 13, South
Boundary Concession subject
to approval by Huron county
council.
Approval has been given to
the Crediton volunteer fire
department to hold a
fireworks display on Monday
night May 21 at dusk at the
Crediton Community Park.
Official approval of the
recently accepted gravel
tenders has been received
from the Ministry of
Transportation and
Communications.
The township's 1984 levy in
the amount of 816,996.47 for
the Ausable-Bayfield Conser-
vation Authority was approv-
ed.
Permission was given to
Carl Turnbull to connect to
the McGillivray township
ebio
water system on his property
at Lot 3, Concession 18.
Council approved member-
ship in the Grand Bend and
area Chamber of Commerce
for 1984.
Application is being made
to the Ontario Ministry of the
Environment for a study on a
proposed landfill site in con-
junction with a number of
other area municipalities.
The month of May is being
designated as Family Unit
Month and the township will
share the cost of advertising
such with other area
municipalities.
Two resolutions from the ci-
ty of Thunder Bay regarding
obscene phone calls which are
available through United
States toll free telephone
numbers were supported.
A resolution from Vanier
asking the province of Ontario
to become officially bilingual
was not supported.
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indicator of ;prang
tra sap in the storage tank,
watching the temperature.
stoking the firebox every 20
minutes, drawing off syrup,. McClymont's will Marg
washing the strainer liner - doss her part by cleaning the
over and over again. containers, ving the sugar
shack a g ' i clean-up every
f"i. .,,, :,'i ter.. _/ •_-"'�=^.
PUMPING STATION — This pump moves the sap into
the storage tank or directly into the pans.
so often, and selling the syrup
at the house. Though McCly-
mont doesn't eat as much
maple syrup as he did when
his mother served it at every
meal, the McClymonts use at
least two gallons each year.
Marg prefers the dark, rich
syrup that is produced at
season's end to flavour baked
beans, butter tarts, cakes and
cookies.
The sap run is now over for
another year in the McCly-
mont bush. Ivan has a few
weeks to relax and work on
Stanley township's subn*s-
sion to the Huron Atlas before
gearing up to work on his
other sideline, his eight -acre
orchard. In his spare time, he
will be back in the bush cut-
ting wood for next year's pro-
duction of maple syrup. It's a
family tradition.
imes
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
WINTANNWANNAWAffil
April 11, 1984
dvocate
& North lambtonSlnce 1573
PagelA
:..-....••...•'4 • ..
KEEPING WATCH — Maple syrup producer Ivan McClymont checks the gauge on
the front pan, ready to draw off some maple syrup to pour into the strainer in the
foreground. McClymont's one-man operation produces 150 gallons of delicious syrup
annually.
s
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