New Helper on the way

[maplehound]

Well It is fianlly going through. My prospective adopted son should be placed with us soon!!!!!!!!!! We met him this weekend, and look forward to having him visit this coming weekend. he seems excited about making syrup even though he says he has never tried the real thing before. I sent a couple quarts home with him to share with his foster family, that only seemed to really please him. Oh, did I mention he is 16 now. He should be good help as long as he stays motivated toward helping. I plan to get him helping me split firewood soon, and then getting him used to running a chain saw by letting him take the safty course "game of logging".
Look for him to be posting on here sometime soon
Ron

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

Congradulations Ron, I find nothing more rewording then sharing what I know, and sometimes don't know with kids that have never had the chance to do it.. I am sure you will have lots of fun.. Andy

[Russell Lampron]

Congratulations Ron, my son was about that age when he started to smarten up and listen to me. I was then able to teach him alot like how to drive my doodlebug tractor. We used to belong to a pulling club and it wasn't long before he was able to out pull me with the same tractor. You will have a lot of fun.

[maplehound]

Russell,
Ryder informed me that he also used to pull garden tractors. I assume that was with his father before his passing. He also expressed an intrest in racing garden tractors, so I am keeping my old Allis chalmers around for him to play with. For the time being I won't need to worry about him driving, he has to wait till legalization for that. Foster care rules are very tight and we need to follow them to the letter for the next 6 months. It is sad to think that at the age of 18 these kids age out of foster care with no drivers liscense and no home. Ryder will be our first adoption but not our last. He is very excited about making syrup and working in the woods.
Please keep us all in your prayers, as I expect the honeymoon stage to not last real long. But for now we will enjoy every minute with him and worry about what comes later.

[maple flats]

Make sure he really wants to do it and approach it as a fun thing and do not treat him as free help. Take time to truly enjoy many different things with him. Realize that he has likely never had any one on one attention. Take lots of breaks and do a large variety of things. Keep the work sessions short and the real fun rewarding. I am not meaning to sound as if I am preaching but please make every thing fun for Ryder.

[Russell Lampron]

Follow the rules that you have to go by but get Ryder involved in as many of your activities as you can. I am sure that he will like sugaring even though it is hard work. There are many rewarding things in making syrup like the taste of the fresh hot syrup right out of the canner.

As he grows older he will remember the time spent with you. If you do it right he will be a sugar maker himself someday and will appreciate nature and most of all the sugar maple. The ones he will have to thank are you and your wife. Enjoy this opportunity to change someones life for the better.

[maplehound]

I will take all the advice to heart. Ryder has a history of enjoying time with the father figures in his life. I look forward to having him by my side while we work in the woods. I expect he will be able to work longer sesions than I will so our time in the woods will ussually not be all day long. I too am woried about making it seem as if he is only free help but feel he will enjoy it. I think if he gets to experience new things like running chainsaws, driving the tractors, and firing an evaporatore he will get hooked for life. Not to mention getting to enjoy the syrup and giving some to his friends and past foster families. I plan to make it as if he is a part of the business to an employee.
Thanks all and keep us in your prayers.
Ron aka:maplehound

[maplehound]

one more week and He will be with us for ever!!!!!!!!!! Or at least till he lives on his own. It is just in time too. I was in the sugar bush the other day and I found about 30 - 40 trees downed in the winds that came from hurricane Ike. The storm had our power out for 5 days and or phone out for over a week. But for sure the most devistating thing it did was the damage in the woods. The farmer that owns the woods doesn't want me in till after deer season either. :( I don't kno9w if I will be able to get all my taps put back up in time for next season, so I may be running on a reduced load this year. I know another producer who say's he lost about 15%-20% of his taps in one woods and didn't have any lost in another. He also reports no pump lines or mainlines currently in the air. I guess the good thing is we should have plenty of firewood to cut.

[MaplePancakeMan]

Hope it all works out well for you MapleHound. I lost 10 trees from the severe weather this year. Then i lost another 4 from Hanna that came up the coast here with uprooted trees from all the rain and wind. I figure that was about 20 taps all together so thats 5 less gallons of syrup per year now!



I'm sure your new helper will love all the work and cherish the time he gets to spend with you!

Best wishes

[maplehound]

Still not allowed in the woods!!! And now the owner of the second half has called a timber buyer to try and salvage some of the trees. I guess that is good news however I will have to take down more of the lines to let the timber buyers get into the woods. But at least they can come in without waiting on deer season.