Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.
Just across from the Maine State House is the Blaine House – where I spend most of my weekdays. It has been home to every Governor of Maine since Carl Milliken and his family moved in back in January 1920.
The Blaine House grounds have also long been home to a big old maple tree in the front yard. It’s a tree that Maine’s governors have tapped each spring for sap that can be boiled into delicious maple syrup.
That’s just what I did this past Tuesday, with the help of the Maine Maple Producers Association, I was proud to carry on this sweet tradition and tap the Blaine House Maple Tree and kick off Maine’s maple season.
Maine is home to 450 producers who are licensed to sell maple products and who produce more than 575,000 gallons of syrup every year. That makes our state the third largest producer of maple syrup in the country. Somerset County alone actually produces more maple syrup than any other county in the United States.
That’s also where the Passamaquoddy have 40,000 acres of land in Somerset and Franklin County, where they run 14,000 taps and have a very vigorous and robust maple syrup industry.
Producing and selling maple syrup generates more than $55 million in economic activity a year and supports more than 800 full-time and part-time jobs every year. If you’ve ever been to a sap house, you know how hard and fast those people work.
So, just two weekends from now – March 23rd and 24th – sugar shacks across the state will open their doors for one of my favorite Maine traditions: the 41st annual Maine Maple Sunday weekend.
During Maine Maple Sunday weekend, you can visit your local sugar shack for events like boiling demonstrations, sugar woods tours, live music, horse-drawn hayrides, pancake breakfasts, maple donuts, maple ice cream, maple salsa, maple whoopie pies and plenty of maple products to sample and share.
Whether you prefer dark and rich or pale gold and other delicious flavors, there’s a syrup for everyone’s taste.
I hope you’ll join me in visiting one of our extraordinary sugarhouses later this month during Maine Maple Sunday weekend. A full list of the Maine Maple Producers can be found online at MaineMapleProducers.com. That’s MaineMapleProducers.com
Since 2015, Maple Syrup has been Maine’s “official state sweetener.” Whether you use your Maine maple syrup on pancakes or waffles, on carrots or Brussel sprouts, or on traditional maple snow candy – Maine maple syrup always makes life a little bit sweeter.
This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening, and don’t forget to turn your clock ahead this weekend also.