On Maine Maple Sunday, nobody complains about the long line that has you meandering in mud and dodging puddles. There’s plenty to do while a rotation of family members take turns holding the spot in line. You may visit the sugarhouse, taste some raw sap or enjoy a syrup sample, watch a film on maple syrup production in the small theater, or purchase a jug of Maine maple syrup. And what’s all the waiting for? Breakfast, of course.

For years, our family has made a trip to Snell Family Farm in Bar Mills to celebrate Maine Maple Sunday. This day, no matter the weather, evokes the feelings that it’s great to be alive and to live in Maine. It is this Maine tradition that suggests this is what life is all about – community comes together and comes alive.

The greenhouse, turned “Greenhouse Cafa,” is warm and alive. Started seedlings of new plant life surround the outside wall. Wire meshed tables, whose proper function is to hold plants, instead are covered with plastic, red-and-white checked tablecloths. Plastic chairs in tight quarters surround the large tables as an abundance of farm workers turned servers and cooks create an awesome, multi-grain pancake breakfast, complete with Maine sausage, bacon, fruit and maple baked beans. Lots of hard work goes into this event, and we must not forget the most honored product of this day – Maine maple syrup.

It wouldn’t be right to just drop in for breakfast and then leave. To celebrate Maine Maple Sunday is to know and appreciate that you will wait in line, and it is well worth the wait. Ramona Snell makes the rounds pouring small Dixie cups of clear sap to guests in line. In its raw form, it doesn’t taste like much. This year, Ramona has been praying for rain. The rain will reduce the snow, which has been especially challenging for sap collectors this year. Wading, at times, up to their hips in snow, four crew members make the rounds daily to hand collect the sap from heavy plastic bags on the trees into large plastic buckets.

There are many environmental conditions that affect a tree’s production of sap. Trees that are out in the open, more exposed to sunlight, tend to produce more sap than trees that are shaded. The continual freezing and thawing is what makes for good sap flow, and by all measures, so far this year, the season looks good.

Though larger producers have sophisticated tubing systems that have all the tree sap flowing into one collection tank, this isn’t possible for the Snells. You see, they actually only have four trees on their farm. But they also tap into many other trees in the area – back yards of neighbors and along the side roads of Bar Mills, a whole community contributes to the Snell Farm production of Maple syrup.

Sap that is hand-gathered late in the afternoon each day is poured into a gravity-fed tank, which pumps automatically into the evaporator. As water boils off, more sap is gravity fed into the tank. This function maintains the boiling level, ensuring that too much evaporation doesn’t occur and burn the syrup.

This year, an early Easter has thrown off Maine Maple Sunday’s tradition of holding the event on the fourth Sunday of March. While many farms are holding to the tradition, Snell Family Farm is celebrating a week early so that families and workers can celebrate Easter with their family. For those who can’t get enough of Maine Maple Sunday, this is even better news – you can celebrate twice.

As for me and my family, we’ll be heading to Snell’s early Sunday morning. Breakfast is being served both Saturday and Sunday, from 7:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Snell farm is located at 1000 River Road (route 112) in Bar Mills. The Web site is www.snellfamilyfarm.com.

Karen’s Corner