ATTICA, N.Y. — Are you celebrating New York State Maple Weekend?
Merle Maple in Attica did with an event on Saturday, celebrating the longtime tradition.
Wyoming County is one of the largest maple producers in the state, and farms in all Western New York counties produced more than 110,000 gallons of maple syrup.
"Maple is a cool industry because we do it on a large scale here," Eileen Downs of Merle Maple said. "But anybody that has maple trees in their yards can go out, drill a hole in their tree, put a bucket on it or gather the sap, and boil it down. Granted, you have to know it takes about 40 to 50 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup."
U.S. Rep. Chris Jacobs (NY-27) visited Merle Maple on Saturday, in part to announce his co-chairmanship of the House Maple Caucus.
"Generations of Western New Yorkers have provided maple syrup and other products to consumers nationally. It is part of our regional heritage and identity," Jacobs said in a statement.