North American Maple Syrup Council Conference

Our dinner river cruise will be with Huron Lady II Cruises.  While our cruise will have a special agenda/tour schedule you can find out more about Huron Lady II Cruises by viewing their brochure or visiting their website. 

We will visit three Sugar Bushes and the USS Edson on our bus tour.  

MapleWorxz® Sugar House
The family has been involved in producing maple syrup since 1949 in a sugar shack that still has remnants in the maple woods today. In 2018, the maple operation was named MapleWorxz™ and became a registered trademark that continues to enhance our brand identity. In addition, the operation became USDA Organic Certified the same year which became a reality mainly due to its location in the middle of our 300 acre organic farm. The family taps 670 to 900 trees in its 38 acre Sugar Maple Woods and continues following many of the traditional syrup making methods passed on from past family generations. Our operation continues to be fired with wood, does not employ reverse osmosis and uses bags and pumping stations for sap collection. With the help of two other “like and kindred” spirited families and their children, the yearly maple syrup production ranges from the mid 180 to 240 gallons all depending on the typical maple sugaring factors of weather, season length and sap sugar ranges.

The farm address is 3540 North Hurds Corner Road, Caro Michigan and the Sugar House is located off Akron Road a quarter mile south from the intersection of North Hurds Corner with a gravel road and easily seen from the road. 

Newbegin Maple Syrup in Clifford, MI
Matthew Newbegin began his journey making maple syrup in 2010 at the age of 16. He enjoyed helping his neighbor collecting buckets of sap and boiling it down in his sugar shack. He tapped his own trees in the spring of 2010 putting out 120 of his own buckets and took his sap that year to a neighbor a little farther up the road to a larger commercial producer. After that season ended his dad and uncle bought him a new wood fired 2X8 evaporator and built their sugar shack. They now have 1000 taps on high vacuum in 3 separate sugar bushes. They also boil sap from 2 other producers processing 2800 taps total, on a 2 post RO and a 2.5X8 H20 oil fired evaporator. His wife Ashley and 2 year old son Owen like making it to the sugar shack as often as they can to help make Syrup.

Maple View Farm
Lance Walker’s interest in maple syrup began with a visit to his favorite high school teacher's sugar shack in 1990 at the age of 26. Paul Henne allowed Lance to visit whenever he wanted, and put him to work stacking wood and bottling syrup. After a few years he decided to tap a few of his own trees and bring it to Paul to boil on shares. In 2019 Lance and his wife Dana Made plans to build their log cabin sugar shack, and purchased a 2.5X10 wood fired leader evaporator; they had their first boil in 2020. After years of tapping 400 roadside trees, Lance installed a 300 tap high vacuum system, and his 11 year old son still taps 40 roadside trees on their property. The log Cabin sugar shack hosts many holiday dinners and surprise parties.

USS Edson at the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum
The USS Edson was commission in 1958 and served for 30 years and completed 10 deployments in Vietnam.  To learn more about the USS Edson please visit the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum website.

Start your day off visiting the Museum; and shop at Pewabic Pottery. It was founded in 1903 and is one of the oldest continually operating potteries in the country, You will have time to both view the amazing pottery and shop for some to take home with you. Leaving Pewabic Pottery we will travel to Grosse Pointe Shores where you can experience the historic family home of Edsel Ford, the only son of Henry Ford, and his wife, Eleanor. The estate is located on a sprawling estate with beautiful grounds and gardens along the lakeshore. The estate includes the historic residence and outbuildings, 87 acres of ground and gardens which you can take your time exploring.

$85.00 for the day includes lunch.
Select choice of sandwich on the registration form:
- Chicken Salad Croissant, grilled chicken breast, celery, dried cherries, mayonnaise, on a buttery croissant
- Turkey Sandwich, oven roasted turkey, red pepper, spinach, brie spread, balsamic strawberry preserves, housemade multi-grain bread
- Roasted vegetable wrap with creamy hummus, pickled red onion, roasted red and yellow peppers, grilled zucchini, spinach, portobello mushroom, cucumber and tomato in a tomato lawash

Travel to Frankenmuth where you can spend the morning visiting the unique shops in downtown Frankenmuth as well as the River Shoppes.
After a delicious Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Chicken Buffet lunch at the Bavarian Inn Lodge we’ll then travel to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland started from humble beginnings in 1945, quickly growing through several expansions to become the World's Largest Christmas Store with beautifully landscaped grounds covering 27 acres. You will find Christmas items from around the world.

Bronner's features a fantastic selection of Christmas ornaments, trims, trees, Christmas lights, nativities, and collectibles. Christmas cards, garlands, stockings, Advent calendars, and wreaths are also among the many items available. Of the more than 6,000 styles of ornaments which Bronner's carries, half of the glass ornaments are Bronner's exclusive designs. 

After a day shopping, we will head back to the Convention Center.

$65.00 includes lunch