FFA youth celebrate maple season's start

CHAZY | The ceremonial first tap of a maple tree held at the Parker Family Maple Farm brought Future Farmers of America (FFA) youth together from around the region. The program at CV-TEC -- formed three years ago -- was represented by some 25 students and the entire slate of officers with kids from Northeastern Clinton Central, Beekmantown, Saranac, Keene Central, and AuSable Valley Central schools The FFA Club from Northern Adirondack Central School (NAC) brought 17 members to the event, including the current Dairy Ambassador for Clinton County, Kyla Rider, of Ellenburg Depot. Gavin, who is president of the CV-TEC FFA, said they were pretty excited to learn the first maple tree tap was going to be held up here. The event hasn't been held the North Country in recent memory, if ever, some officials said. "Isaac and I are part of the Environmental Conservation and Forestry Program," Gavin said. "The school has some land just down the road from here, we have 800 maple tree taps. We boil the sap at the school and produce about 350 bottles of maple syrup every year." In addition to sap collection and syrup production, Gavin said the CV-TEC sugarhouse was built with lumber cut on the school property. "It was cut and milled and the sugar shack was built by the students," he beamed. Being part of FFA has helped draw attention to the agricultural components of education at CV-TEC, he added. The students weren't sure if Friday's weather was going to let the maple sap run. Air temperatures in Chazy weren't quite above freezing. "It might run tomorrow," Gavin said. "The day has to warm up before the sap really gets moving." CV-TEC FFA Club Advisor Eric Jock said the students learn about the freeze-thaw cycle and how changing temperatures produce a sap run and impact maple season overall. "Daytime high temperatures make the sap move, and the overnight lows slow it down." If the trees run for days without a nighttime freeze, then maple trees will start to bud, which draws the tree's energy, changing the sap's sugar concentration. It changes the flavor of late-season maple syrup, the students said. Very cold winters can slow the actual start to maple season. CV-TEC students are pretty excited to attend the FFA State Convention this year in Buffalo in May. This will be the 101st anniversary of FFA in New York State and the first convention for the club. At NAC, the FFA Club brings a lot of students together. There were 17 representing at the first tap at Parker Family Maple Farm. Kyla Rider is club secretary, and she outlined some of the Leadership Development Events (LDE) and Community Development Events (CDE) that students put together. "We just held a session on Parliamentary Procedures based on Robert's Rules of Order," Kyla said. "The juniors ran the chapter meeting." Other topics covered include environmental impacts on honey bee populations in the Adirondack region and ways to encourage the local farm economy. FFA at NAC was founded in 1926 as the Association of Young Farmers. Club Advisor Liz Couillard said the current FFA came into place when Northern Adirondack centralized the district in the early 1970s. Rider said the big event they host each year is an Agricultural Fair NAC school grounds. It's based on a county fair format. "There are dairy shows, large and small animals," she said. "It's open to the public." The Ag Fair at NAC will be held June 5 at the school, she said, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. NAC doesn't currently have a maple grove for maple sap harvest, but their advisor said they hope to create a program in the future. For Kristina Parker, whose family runs Parker Maple Farm, FFA holds a special place. Her young son Keith is a member and wore his jacket to the first tap. He is a fifth-generation Parker on the farm. "It is quite an honor to have Agriculture Commissioner Ball here in Clinton County," she said on Friday after the ceremony. Her generation is the fourth to run the Parker Farm, a tradition that dates back to the 1800s. "I'm also the Town of Altona historian, and I celebrate the history of maple sugaring in this region. Having the FFA students here is a wonderful part of this event," she said. "Just to see the future, it's bright."

Signup for our newsletter

FFA youth celebrate maple season's start

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS