Harvesting of maple syrup is a Long Grove tradition that dates back many years. Please enjoy a video clip from our archives of former Long Grove mayor Bob Coffin and his late wife Betty, as they walk you through how it’s done…

 

 

 

The film cassette from our archives is dated Spring, 1984 and includes the following notes:

This short documentary film entitled Maple Syrup Time in Long Grove features long time Long Grove residents Bob & Betty Coffin. The Coffins have been tapping sugar Maple trees for the past 30 years. You’ll see them demonstrate procedures for tapping the trees and converting the sap into waffle ready syrup. Produced and filmed by Jack Schaum and narrated by David McCartny.

If you fancy watching some trees being tapped live, head on over to the Lake County Forest Preserves website, and sign up for one of their Maple Syrup Hikes that are offered in the latter half of March.

If you’re more in the mood for some armchair sleuthing, check out this article about a massive theft of syrup that occurred in Quebec. After pondering how on earth you would profit/fence/resell that much syrup without getting caught, you can check out this article to read what really happened. If you have access to Netflix, you can also watch the whole story on Dirty Money – Episode 6 – “The Maple Syrup Heist”. It’s also the subject of the plot for Elementary – Season 5 – Episode 13 – “Over A Barrel”. Who knew Maple Syrup could be such a hot commodity?