810-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 13, 1996
GAY BROWNLEE
Somerset Co. Correspondent
SOUTHAMPTON TWP.
(Somerset Co.) Matt Emerick
is 13 years old and in grade eight
at the Meyersdale High School.
He’s been helping his dad and
mom Ed and Wilma Emerick
make maple syrup ever since
he was a small kid around age
seven.
That’s when he was old enough
to help them hand the metal keel
ers (buckets) on the trees to catch
sugar water.
Ever since then, Matt has been
crazy about making maple syrup.
And every year in late winter or
spring, when it’s time to tap the
maple trees. Matt is eager to get
started.
To “tap” a tree means a little
hole is drilled into the trunk and a
spile (small spigot) is hammered
into the hole.
Next, a covered keeler is hung
where sap can drip into it from the
spile. It drips fast when the tree
gets warm during the day, espe
cially after a very, very cold night
The water has sweetness or
sugar in it After it is boiled a few
hours the water evaporates into
steam and the sugar part becomes
maple syrup. It is a pure and natur
Time to fill the Juge with wholesome and pure maple syr
up. Matt Emerlck says this Is the final step.
Matt Emarick and his mother, Wilma Emeiick, stand behind the bass wood trough
that they borrowed to make crumb sugar at a demonstration In Philadelphia.
ids,
)i>
Maple Sugar Season Is Addictive, Says Matt
al product because nothing else is
added to it.
The Emericks make thousands
of taps in big trees. They also
attach a plastic tubing line to the
taps besides using keelers. The
water, or sap, is collected into
huge tanks and hauled, by truck, to
the sugar camp.
A sugar camp is the building
where the boiling and filtering
takes place. It’s also where maple
syrup is canned in jugs to sell to
other people.
To “boil down” you need a
roaring fire to heat the long silver
evaporation pan. The Emericks
use oil to fuel the fire. Many
maple producers use wood fires.
“I know some kids would find it
boring,” Matt said, “but I enjoy it
a lot. It’s addictive,” he added.
Six years of experience has
made Matt skillful in the sugar
camp. Now his dad knows Matt
can do important tasks without
help. For instance, in the last few
weeks, Matt has boiled thousands
of gallons of water by himself.
That’s a big responsibility.
Matt doesn’t mind staying
inside to track the progress of the
syrup. He uses a device called a
“hydrometer” to measure the
“density.”
While the water bubbles and
evaportes, he reads books and
newspapers and listens to the
radio, because the syrup could be
ruined if it was boiled too long. So
he sits and watches and waits
patiently.
Even when he goes to school.
Matt is thinking about sugar mak
ing. He takes orders for maple
candy and maple creams from
hungry high school kids. Some of
Matt’s best customers are at
school.
It’s amazing that he can keep
his grades up. but he sure does. All
“A’s” and “B’s” on his report
card, even during the maple sea
son when it’s hard for him to think
of anything else.
Recently, the Emerick family
(Matt’s an only child), went to the
center of the city of Philadelphia
for Maple Syrup Days. Every year
they go to give a sugar making
demonstration to city folks.
Matt loves meeting all the peo
ple and telling them about the
maple industry just like they
were old friends.
He made spotza for them by
heating maple syrup to 240
degrees and pouring a little of it
over ice in a Dixie cup. To cat it
from their paper cup, each person
used a wooden stick like the kind
found in popsicles.
Spotza can be made with snow,
too. That’s probably how it was
first done when spotza was made
in earlier days.
Crumb sugar is another maple
product that Matt knows how to
make. Maple syrup is poured into
a wooden trough that stands on
legs. It is stirred and stirred until it
turns to sugar granules. Usually,
this takes about 15 minutes.
Crumb sugar is used for
sweetening food and in baking.
“I have maple at least once
every week,” Matt says, adding
that he doesn’t eat so much of it
that he gets sick.
He thinks that pancakes topped
with maple syrup is a dandy
breakfast to eat on a lazy Saturday
morning.
ortoet**
Matt uses a * ipper to tap a maple tree. He says
this step Is first In making maple syrup.
Emerick’s dad, Ed Emerick, Is at the left.
tank where augar water la torad until It’s boiled down.
1/