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RITES OF SPRING - The Ojibwe Charter School 9th and 10th grade classes took a field trip to the Timmer family sugar bush to see how maple syrup is created.
Each spring the Timmer family works late into the night to collect sap for their maple syrup business. Drawing on Ojibwe traditions, handed down over many generations, the Timmers have developed a modern version of the sugar bush that allows them to produce more than 200 gallons of maple syrup over the short season.
Bay Mills Indian Community's Cultural Coordinator Lance Teeple arranged for Ojibwe Charter School students to take a trip into the sugar bush at Dick and Julie Timmer's house on April 5 to learn about how maple syrup is created. Below are the students writings about their field trip.
I had a fun time at the sugar bush the other day. Dick and Julie Timmer showed us a great presentation. All the tubing in the woods must have taken a long time to put up. I learned that it takes about three days to sanitize the tubing and clean it out. I feel sorry for Rikki and Julie for having to do all that work everyday.
I had a taste of the actual sap that came out of the tree. It tasted really good. They also gave us little sample bottles. The finished syrup has a very sweet taste to it. The only bad thing about the trip was the bumpy ride there.
Chris Bjork
I liked the sugar place - it was cool! I tasted the maple syrup and it was good. I liked it. Everyone was drinking it. I didn't try it until I was on the bus, but I liked it. I thought it was cool how they made it, too. My sisters liked it. I thought that it was good, but it was too sweet. I hope that we visit again.
Ashley Touchtone
Our class went to the maple syrup camp to see how they make maple syrup. It wasn't new to me, but I didn't know they suck it out with a hose. I thought it was fun, and we got to drink pure maple sap. I drank about three glasses and one little bottle of syrup. They had over 2,100 trees tapped, which is a lot of syrup. The syrup camp was owned by the Timmers.
We only stayed for an hour, but it was worth it because we got to get out of school to go and chug syrup. It wasn't long before I had a sugar buzz and some sap to start to clean my system. I could feel the sap pull all the stuff out of my blood stream, not really, but sort of. I am glad that Kathy told us about how our Creator gave us sap to cleanse our body because I know where to get the sap if I need to.
Jesse Bennett
On April 5, my class took a trip to Dick and Julie Timmer's sugar bush. They showed us everything they did to make their delicious maple syrup. Dick Timmer demonstrated how to tap a tree. He showed us the buckets, the gravity lines, and the vacuum lines. Then he showed us where it is boiled and prepared. My class got to drink the sweet sap, and taste the mouth-watering syrup. Everyone had a great time and learned about the hard work put into harvesting a sugar bush. I'd like to go back and maybe learn some more hands on. I had a lot of fun and I want to thank the Timmers for showing us the ways of their family business.
Todd Carrick
The other day we went and visited the Timmers. They showed my class and I how to make maple syrup and all that good stuff. I already knew most of that stuff because I used to hang out with their youngest daughter. But it never hurts to learn it again! I am really thankful that they took time out of their busy day to show us how everything was done.
Alicha Carrick
