Maple Syrup Festival continues this weekend

By: 
Staff Writer Kate Wehlann

The first festival of the year draws visitors from near and far for a two-weekend run

The weather was crisp and cool, with a hint of the promise of spring to come this past Saturday, and despite the warnings of muddy parking lots and the nip in the air, visitors from near and far arrived at LM Sugarbush on Garrison Hollow Road in Salem to pick up their year’s maple syrup, eat some hot pancakes, visit the vendors and, for some, throw a few sharp implements.

“In Indianapolis and Louisville, there are ax-throwing businesses, where you can throw axes and get drinks and food and stuff,” said Kofi Darku, who was throwing axes in one of the game booths.

Darku said he and his family have been coming to the Maple Syrup Festival for the past five or six years.

“It’s a signal that winter is over, hopefully,” he said. “It’s March! Let’s go, winter! Bring on spring! It’s a great festival. Me and the wife bring our kids and families who bring their kids, too. We come and get our maple syrup for the year.”

Angela Edwards said her father discovered the festival years ago and they have made it a family tradition.

“My kids grew up coming out here, so they expect it,” she said. Her children are 17, 20 and 24. “It’s like a family tradition. It’s a habit. I come every year to get a new glass jar of syrup. We always saw the wood and get it branded.”

There is a station where visitors can work with a partner on a two-person saw to slice off a piece of wood and have it branded with a maple leaf.

“We all come because dad wants to come and we all come with him,” said Edwards, sitting with one of her relatives’ dogs, who also came along for the festival, at the pet-friendly area of the farm kitchen. “My sister, nieces and nephews, my son — everyone is around here somewhere.”

The festival is a draw for guests, but also for vendors. Lines of artisans, bakers, and other local businesses, like wineries, set up to ply their wares. This was Chad Nelson’s first time working as a vendor with his business, Distilled Cuts, where he sells wooden items made from bourbon barrels and farm wood.

“I grew up in Salem and I live in Henryville, so this is located between both,” he said. “I’m trying to grow my business and this is a good place to start. It usually draws a good crowd.”

And even on the first day of the festival, he said, he’d already seen some promising interest.

“A lot of people have stopped and asked questions, and I’ve had several sales so far,” he said. “It’s been good.”

Chris Vosters has been selling bags of kettle corn for more than 20 years.

“Everyone is cooped up all winter and they want to get out,” she said. “It’s my kind of people out here.”

So why kettle corn?

“Why not?” she asked. “I have a business in Davis County and a friend was selling a piece of equipment and my husband was too cheap to pay the price, so he made one on a dare.”

It’s the same one she and her friend, Windy Ellis, used to make the kettle corn at the festival.

“I never intended to get into the kettle corn business, but here we are,” she said. Her business is called Kettle of Corn, LLC. “It’s fun. It’s like a family reunion. You get to see people you only see once a year.”

But it’s not just a place to buy syrup, snacks and home goods and play some games. The Cowboy Posse was there this past weekend and will return this coming weekend to put on shows during the day. Eddie Kimberger, President of the Cowboy Posse, said this is his group’s fourth year at the festival.

“I try to talk to as many people as I can,” he said. “We book performances on a first-come, first-served basis. We came about five years ago to talk with the owners and we have come ever since. It’s one of the best festivals we do.”

The Cowboy Posse put on a show Saturday wherein a band of bad guys were determined to take the patent for Sugarbush’s “Angel’s Envy” syrup, but held a cowboy church
service Sunday, with country gospel music, something Kimberger said they will repeat this coming weekend, along with cowboy poetry.

“The owners are real good to us,” he said. “They work with us, we work with them. We try to bring in a good crowd. People like to come see us. We enjoy interacting with people. We get to work with a lot of friends and family. Reenacting keeps you young. We get to meet a lot of people. People come from a long ways off and I think that’s great.”

Director of New Chapel Friends with Strings, Vanessa Lorentzen, said her group celebrated 10 years of performing at the festival this year.

“There’s such a homespun atmosphere,” she said of the festival. “We don’t feel like we have to be perfect and that’s a relief. We feel very welcomed.”

Her group boasts several dulcimer players, a bass player, some violinists, guitar players and a percussionist — 16 musicians in all.

“We’re almost all retirees who got into music late in life,” said Lorentzen. “I like to say, ‘It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.’ It’s a very inspirational group.”

Her oldest member is 86.

“I’m really proud of our group,” said Lorentzen. “We go all over the place, playing.”

One of their big performances is during the Falls of the Ohio Lewis and Clark Handshake festival. Lorentzen said her group performed a set of Civil War-era music during the festival.

You can learn more about the group by searching their Facebook group, “Dulcimer Folks.” Their current profile photo is a graphic from their t-shirts, blue with the words, “New Chapel Dulcimers Friends with Strings.”

The festival, with its food, vendors and entertainment, has been bringing in crowds for nearly 30 years, said farm co-owner Jennifer Reisenbichler.

“I really like seeing people enjoy themselves,” she said. “We have a lot of city people who come here and have never seen a farm like this. They’ll come out and are, like, ‘Oh my goodness! This is so cool!’”

She said the planning process is constant. Organizers are always looking for ways to make the festival better each year, even though the hard work to prepare begins just a few months before the festival.

“I don’t think we ever stop planning, but we start really putting in the hours after Christmas,” she said. “We’re gathering things all year ‘round, and we think about it all
the time.

“We’ve had a great turnout today,” she continued. “It looks like we’re in for more good weather. This is much better than the years when we only had one good weather day. I think a lot of people are planning to come tomorrow when it’s going to be 60 degrees.”

She said the festival works to make the event possible for families of all sizes to attend, with no parking and admission fees.

“We try to let people come out all day for less than it would cost to take a family out to the movies,” she said. “A lot of people come early and stay all day and we try to have something new every year.”

New this year are multiple outdoor picnic tables for those wishing to eat outside, away from the long lines of people waiting for plates of maple syrup-covered pancakes and waffles, pork chops, chicken and more from the farm kitchen and other food vendors.

“We’ve tried to improve on a lot of existing things, too,” she said. “We put more gravel out to keep the mud down. We’re also offering gluten-free pancakes and there are vegetarian options from our food truck. We try to make sure everyone is taken care of.”

The festival continues this weekend, running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Visit LMSugarbush.com for more information.

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