The 12th OVLR Maple Syrup Rally
Shawville, Quebec, 1999
Background:
Spring is a wonderful time of year. When the days warm up, the sap starts to flow. The great tradition of maple sugaring is a great way to enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Maple syrup is a natural and very unique product. It is only made in Eastern Canada and the US northeast from the sap of sugar maple and black maple trees. As Spring approaches, sugar makers take to maple forests (sugarbushs) to tap maple trees. A drill is used to make a small hole from which the tree sap flows in the warmth of the day. The sap is collected and brought back to camp to be boiled. The water is driven off and the sap thickens to a sweeter maple syrup.
The Event:
For the past eleven years, members of OVLR have been celebrating the coming of Spring with gathering at Vern Fairhead's sugar bush in Shawville Quebec during the maple sap run. The event offers people an excuse to get their Land Rover out from under that snow bank and blow the cobwebs out. For the hardy, it is an opportunity for a little winter camping that weekend.
This is the first major club event of the season for Land Rover owners around eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Food, tradition, and some white laning! Last year, some fifty people attended!
When:
The Maple Syrup Rally is traditionally held at the end of March, beginning of April at the height of the sap run. The sap run loves freezing nights and warm days. A variation in this pattern can disrupt the run and cause last minute changes in the schedule outlined. As this is very weather dependent, an estimate is printed, the actual date not being known until just a few weeks ahead. This year, we expect it to be held on April 11th, with a "rain" date of April 18th. Remember, Mother Nature determines the date, not us!
Reservations/RSVP:
OVLR needs to know how many people expect to be attending so the proper amount of food can be purchased. So, local and regional members with email will be kept abreast of planning and dates via email. If you are planning on coming, please send Christine Rose an email at _________. For those that we know not to have email, (sorry Harry, we know you have email now) we encourage you to phone Christine Rose at __________ to confirm the date and their attendance.
Cost:
The cost of the Rally is five dollars per person. Children under three years old are free. To drive on the off-road course, you need to be a member of OVLR (Ourinsurance policy requires this)
Activities:
There will be a traditional breakfast of french toast, sausage, homemade baked beans from Grandma Lousie's secret recipe.
This event also has a participatory side to it. To appreciate the fresh maple syrup you will be having with your breakfast, members are encouraged to help by making it! Every year there is the traditional gathering of sap from the trees. Vern is operating a sugar shack where the sap is boiled down to fresh maple syrup. For some, this is an opportunity to see how it is really done. It is also a chance to restock on some real maple syrup that should keep you going for the coming year! What can be better than making your own!
- There will be an Easter egg hunt for the children.
- There is always some white (ok, sometimes brown/mud) laning down some abandoned rail beds, through the sugar bush, and around in the lands around the sugar bush. Also an opportunity to see Francois Juneau (Unimog) and Dale (Gin Palace) duke it out in the local trout pond. This year, Dale promises to show that his lockers are just as good as Francois'. We don't know if Dale will be trying out chains, as that secret weapon is usually reserved for the Birthday Party. For some, it is an opportunity to learn that snow can be just as frustrating and difficult to traverse as mud.
As always, there will be lots of fresh maple syrup for sale. Prices should be unchanged at: $38 for four litres, $22 for two litres, $12 for the plastic one litre jug, and $8 for the 540ml can. Bring your cheque book! (note, this is the real stuff, and you can help make your own! Not the chemical filled artificial stuff generally found in the supermarket)
Getting there:
If you are unsure about directions, there will be a convoy of vehicles leaving from the Westgate shopping centre at 9am. (Corner of Carling Avenue and Merrivale)
The following directions assume that you can find the Champlain Bridge at the north end of Island Park Drive in Ottawa. Crossing the bridge over the Ottawa River, you will go straight to the second set of lights where the road ends at a "T". Go west (left). Follow the upper road (highway #148) through to Aylmer, past the Canadian Tire, to a set of lights at the park (there is a war memorial in the centre of the park to your right. The town library is accross the street on your left) in the centre of town. #148 does a right turn here at these lights. Follow hightway 148 out of Aylmer and procees to Shawville (you will pass by the villages of Luskville, Quyon etc.). Drive through Shawville. About one mile past Shawville, you will look for a side road on the right. The side road is marked with a small green sign that says "Radford" (there are a pair of barns across the road on the lefthand side of #148). Turn right. Go straight, past the church until the road ends. Tu! rn right, then take the first left. You will take the first left at the next concession road. One mile from this turn, you will find Vern's farm on the left.
Accomodation:
In the past, as the event takes place on a Sunday, various members of the club have come up early and done a little winter camping in the sugar bush. If you are interested in some winter camping, give Vern a ring at (613) 647-5544. There is plenty of wood about, and Vern probably won't mind you using some of the wood by the Sugar shack, so long as you help stoke the fire in there a little bit during the day! So, warmth for the evening is avaiable!
Members are also welcome to come up on Saturday and help Vern with some sap gathering and maple syrup production.
Contact numbers:
- Event Co-ordinator: Christine Rose
- E-mail:
- If lost getting there: Phone 647-5544 (Vern's home)
