Step Back In Time, Step Into Spring at Hebron Maple Festival

Thousands packed Main Street and the back roads of Hebron Saturday to partake in the 21st Hebron Maple Festival.

The festival celebrates the arrival of spring, evidenced by the sap freely flowing from tree taps and steam rising from sugar houses all over the region. Because Hebron was seated in the heart of the Revolutionary War, re-enactors take the annual opportunity to provide "living history to visitors. 

If you’re planning to attend the festival today, check out the PDF brochure located at http://hebronmaplefest.com/ for featured locations and activities. I’d been told it is an excellent family outing, so I decided to take my son and go. I planned our route out, which included visiting three sugar houses before joining festivities on Main Street, Hebron. 

Once into the center of Hebron (having traveled East on Route 66 from Middletown), I turned onto Route 85 North. Our first stop was at Country Carpenters, a company which builds replicas of Revolutionary War era buildings. We were greeted by artisans in Revolutionary-period dress, all of whom stayed in character throughout our visit. Artisans included a father-son blacksmith team, a candle maker and a broomstick maker.

“My grandfather was the blacksmith here in Hebron. My father learned from him, and I from my dad. My 19-year-old daughter has learned from me,” explained the blacksmith. “We do demonstrations here at this location, but my shop is over the hill. We make all of the items for Country Carpenters customers, such as hinges for the barns.” 

“If you lend me your son to be my apprentice, I will give you a cow and two pigs, and a year supply of candles,” quipped the candlemaker.

He sat demonstrating his patience as he methodically dipped rack after rack of candles into the pot of boiling wax.

“Each rack has to be dipped, dried, and dipped again. It takes about 20 layers to get candles to the proper size,” he said. “I need your son to help keep the fires going and bring me supplies.” 

The broomstick maker sat with a yellow birch log on his lap and carefully peeled back layer after layer of the wood, creating wooden bristles that would later become a broom.

“It takes about three days to make one, but I can get a penny for each broom”, he said.

“Cheaper than me getting one at Walmart?” I asked.

“Walmart? What is Wal-mart?” he asked. 

After watching the artisans for some time, we continued our journey to three sugar houses: Wenzel Sugarhouse, Hurst and Woody Acres. Each of the three operations were set up differently, each sugarmaker vowing that his way of making the delicious syrup was the best way. Regardless of their preferred method of collecting and boiling down, they all agreed on one thing: “You need to watch the temperature carefully and draw off the syrup at exactly the right time. If you miss the window, you’ll end up with a burnt taste.”

All of the sugar houses have products for sale, and at least for this weekend, prices are comparable with each other. Before you gasp at the price, stop and process what the cost of production is.

“It takes about 40-45 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup,” explained each of the sugarmakers. All three sugarmakers have wood-fired evaporators, and admit the cost of wood is a major part of production costs. Visitors can get small personal-size jugs for $5 or any desired size up to ½ gallon, which markets for around $30. 

After visiting the sugar houses, we continued our loop down Route 316 and onto Main Street. Parking was tight, but there are shuttle buses running from the high school, for those unable to walk. We opted to park and walk, given that it was 60 degrees out and a beautiful spring day.

The festival has no shortage of food options, and the prices are excellent. Patrons can purchase food tickets at the American Legion Booth for $3 each. Tickets can be redeemed at the long row of food booths nearby. Food choices include fried dough, burgers, fries, chili, and chili dogs. A bit further down the street are booths selling maple cookies, brownies, hot and cold drinks and Girl Scout cookies. 

As we reached the intersection of Route 66 and 85, having made a huge loop over the past 3 hours, we heard the fifes. We enjoyed visiting with members of the Lebanon Militia, which marched from Lebanon and Hebron to Boston to participate in the Revolutionary War. After the war, the militia lay dormant until recent years, when military personnel decided to create living history demonstrations.

“Most of the members are either active or retired military personnel,” explained one re-enactor.

After talking with the ladies about the day-to-day life of the mid-1700s, and hearing of the hardships the men endured along the trail, we turned to leave. As we were preparing to make our way back through the crowd, we were stopped.

“Wait! Don’t you want us to fire the muskets for you?” the men clamored in one voice. (I couldn’t help but smile. Men and boys, they love their toys!)

“Sure. We’d love to see your demonstration,” I replied. 

After a loud and raucous three rounds of loading, firing and re-loading, the smoke cleared and we said our goodbyes.

As we made our way back to the car, we spotted the booth we’d both been looking for! I’d heard there is no better cotton candy on earth than cotton candy made of pure maple sugar, spun to mouth-watering perfection. We purchased a couple of ample-sized bags for just $2 each and made our way back to the car, laughing and reminiscing about all we’d seen. 

Festivities will continue today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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