I met some fellow traders at the Verona 2014 winter conference

[maple flats]

Last night I went to the Conf. in Verona, will be there all day today. I saw several friends, saw several Maple Trader members I knew and met some new ones that I only knew them on the Trader and had not had the pleasure to meet in person. It amazes me how friendly all are, they do not get snobby or "better than thou". Everyone shares with the others regardless of their size or experience level. Much bigger operations openly share with new comers. I find this very invigorating. I love this concept.
May all who can attend find the same to be true! See you there! I'll have my "maple Flats" written on my name tag, stop and introduce yourself.
At the risk of forgetting some I'll only mention a few, but all were great to talk with.
Flatlander, Thad Blaisdell, Bucket Head, and several others. In fact I talked with one trader from NJ and Cold Brook, NY at length, a very nice guy, His 1st name is John but I forget his last name or his trader name (sorry)
Dave

[Clarkfield Farms]

Once again, I can't make it to this event and it's less than 20 miles away...

[Maplewalnut]

Have to be honest, wasn't really impressed with verona this year. Manufacturers 'booths' seemed skimpy as far as equipment. Leader was running their clear filter press which is pretty neat. Lapierre and cdl really did nothing. They didn't even have a lapierre or cdl dealer set up to pick up supplies. No door prizes this year...number of vendors seemed low also.
Anyone else think so

[adk1]

I didn't go this year but I did last year. I wasn't overly impressed with in being the nys maple conference. We can do better. I did like the lectures though.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Have to be honest, wasn't really impressed with verona this year. Manufacturers 'booths' seemed skimpy as far as equipment. Leader was running their clear filter press which is pretty neat. Lapierre and cdl really did nothing. They didn't even have a lapierre or cdl dealer set up to pick up supplies. No door prizes this year...number of vendors seemed low also.
Anyone else think so
X3 we weren't impressed either

[adk1]

Flats u need to delete some of your private messages it's full

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I met Maple flats, buckethead, milestag was kicking around today with his father. Met a couple others all were great

[nutsy]

Was I the only one that could not find a New York State Maple Producers booth, seems like there should be one considering it is a NY event?

[Moser's Maple]

Was I the only one that could not find a New York State Maple Producers booth, seems like there should be one considering it is a NY event?

it was right in the middle of the leader/cdl gym. if you only walked around the perimeter you would have missed it

[PerryFamily]

I thought the trade show was pretty good but didn't seem like there were any "show deals".
I did like seeing Sunrise Metal Shop there. Here in Vermont you really only see the big guys. There stuff looked really nice and the price was pretty good.

Best Part: Lunch!!! Holy cow was I stuffed

All in all I enjoyed it but thought the walk in fee ($50) was a little steep, and probably will not go back.

[heus]

How does this event compare to the Lake Erie Maple Exposition in Penn?

[Clarkfield Farms]

Wow, well I hope the event organizers are reading this and paying attention, sounds like a lot of room for improvement? Or is it just that the people posting here were in the minority opinion? Either way, I still wish I could've made it, especially since, as some of the posts point out, the best part for me is getting around the good folks on here. I get to meet and talk with Steve (bucket head) and Dave (maple flats), but not nearly often enough. And the rest of you, well -- so far, only online. I still intend to go next year, regardless what bells and whistles or lack thereof, for the reasons I just mentioned.

And like the old business saying goes, if you like it, tell everybody; if you don't, please tell US. I think a good idea would be to give your input to the NYS Maple Producers Assoc., and everyone else involved with the planning, and do it while it's fresh in your mind or you WILL forget to. After all, if it's not to your liking, it's partly because you HAVEN'T given you input or feedback before now, either. So you get back what you gave them, in a way? I don't know, I wasn't there. But that's what it's sounding like to me.

- Tim

[maple flats]

Maplewalnut, You must have missed them, but I bought from both Lapierre and CDL. They did however have fewer supplies on display.
I thought the seminars were excellent as usual. As a result, I'm going to run my filter press differently and after bthis yseason's stock is used up I'm going to try a different grade of DE, based on some info given by AFTEK in one of the seminars. When I charge the press I'll run more FA in and recirculate until the filter discharge back into the draw pot and the syrup in the draw pot are completely clear before I begin running syrup thru to filter. I used to just run a couple of minutes, until the return flow was good. According to the AFTEK rep, running more FA in and pre coating far longer will end up giving you far more gal/paper change, thus saving time and money. He also said the maple industry seems to use a FA grade that is finer than needed which clogs far faster. The producer giving the talk who invited him in used the new grade and got perfectly clear syrup, but on a 10" press he used to get 30-40 gal/ set of papers, with the new grade he got 140-160 gal. when filtering the AFTEK rep. said to keep the draw pot moderately full while filtering and to watch the pressure gauge. He says to add a little more FA and mix in each time the gauge goes over 20 PSI, while keeping the filter running. I'm going to try it.

[maple flats]

Flats u need to delete some of your private messages it's full
OOPPS, I checked mine, only 14 messages, must be the other "Flats"
maple flats

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

very doubtful that I will be going back, last year was a lot better. Thinking about LEME next year.
nice meeting Jake and Derrick again I hope no fines, suspensions or bans are levied against them for visiting with me.

[grimmreaper]

im glad to hear traders got to meet and greet ...everyone got to check out the latest and greatest of new ideas and creations of new items on the market...but most of all I think we should give special thanks to the kids of our local FFA program to pull off this conference...They work hard planning,scheduling,and meeting the needs to help in any way to make your day..THANK YOU VVS FFA ...

[Maplewalnut]

Don't get me wrong, the seminars are worth the price of admission themselves. The show is well organized and the school does a great job hosting. Leader had a company booth and four separate dealers to pick up last minute supplies. Lapierre and cdl had no dealers even present. Not sure why.

[maple flats]

Lapierre had Kurt & Cathy Shaw (Shaw's Maple Products), their local dealer. I bought some things from them. I also got some prices on a new vacuum pump from Ben Benjamin of Ben & Judy's Sugarhouse (CDL dealer)

[Maplewalnut]

Flats...where were they?!??

[Clarkfield Farms]

Shaw's are good people, just a few miles from me. They're very accommodating.

[grimmreaper]

shaw's will treat you right !if they don't have it they will put you in the right direction.

[Bucket Head]

The show was enjoyable, as always, but it was a little on the "thin side" with equipment as compared to other years.

I don't know if everyone got to meet him, but David Norton of Mill Creek Maple Supply, 1551 Cty. Hwy. 20, Edmeston NY is taking over the CDL dealership from Ben Benjamin. Ben is retiring from the equipment sales business. Dave has a large facility which will have more inventory for walk-in customers. Ben will be assisting Dave with the transition. Dave's number is 1-607-965-6920.

Steve