Local producers get ready to welcome public for Maple Weekend

TOWN OF BROWNVILLE, New York (WWNY) - Maple producers are getting ready to open their sugar shacks to visitors. It’s all part of New York’s Maple Weekend.

“Maple syrup, you know, is in our blood up here,” said Shawn Massey, who co-owns Massey Ranch in the town of Brownville.

With the largest number of tappable maple trees in the country and more than 2,000 maple producers across New York, the middle two weekends in March have become a celebration of syrup in the Empire State.

“You’re going to have a sensation overload. Between the sweet maple syrup, we’re going to give free samples. We’re going to have maple cream, maple candy, wagon rides, bonfires. Literally, get outside, enjoy the day. It’s going to be a lot of fun for the whole family,” said Massey.

Maple weekend first started in 1995 as a single day known as “Maple Sunday”. Now the four-day event stretches over two weekends with more than 150 sugar shacks taking part in the event. There are 15 here in the tri-county region.

With more than 1,000 people expected to visit the ranch, the Masseys tell us that they have been planning for this weekend for nearly a month.

“It’s game on here at Massey Ranch to get ready for Maple Weekend. We’ll get a lot of people here. We want to make sure they’re safe. We want to make sure they know the safety precautions are up. We want to make sure we have enough product. We want to know if we have enough people for demonstrations and parking. It’s a big process to get these people out here safely and organized,” said Shawn Massey.

“This is huge for us. These are the only two weekends that most sugar shanties are open. This is it. We’re normally closed to the public, so these two weekends are extremely important,” said Meagan Massey, co-owner of Massey Ranch.

March 18 and 19 kick off the first half of Maple Weekend with the celebration continuing on March 25 and 26.

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