Tapping maple in Tamworth with Sununu and Madison school kids

It took only a few seconds for all three holes to begin to drip sap, which the governor tasted by dipping his hand.

New Hampshire Maple Producers Association Inc. is celebrating 80 years as a non-profit trade association this year, and the tapping so far has been sweet in parts of the state that have seen the sap run.

Considered one of the first signs of spring, the season can last from 15 to 35 days but is largely concentrated in the month of March.

Each year, the organization enlists the help of the governor to tap a tree and bring the process to the public’s attention.

Last year, the governor went to Westmoreland to promote March as Maple Sugar Month in the state.

Kate Stanley, a teacher at Madison Elementary, and her husband, Tim Robinson, own Turkey Street Maples, a sugar house in Chocorua, and they have allowed the school’s third- and fourth-graders to learn about the process which is unique to this corner of the world.

Attending Sununu’s ceremonial first tap, in addition to the students and their families, were New Hampshire Senate President Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) and Shawn Jasper, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture.

Other dignitaries included state Rep. Mark McConkey (R-Freedom) and Tamworth selectmen’s chair Emry Robert.

The governor, who has a few taps in his backyard and said he boils the sap down inside his house, told the children that he makes a mess and that there is no longer any wallpaper in his house.

Sununu said this was his first time tapping a century-old maple. Maple trees can live to be 400 years old, and the state is blessed with an abundance of them.

Sununu asked the children if any had ever tapped trees before, and many raised their hands.

“I’ve never done a 100-year-old tree,” said Sununu.

He added: “The season has been pretty, pretty strong so far in certain parts of the state. So the business as a whole, maple syrup is a big part of who we are in a state and so far it is it’s running wild, as they say it’s going very, very well.”

Sununu said he has a friendly competition with the governors of Vermont and New York about which state produces the best maple syrup

“So I brag about it on a national TV all the time,” said Sununu. “I’ll put the quality of our maple syrup up against anyone’s in the country and proud to do so,” said Sununu.

“And I’ve had it out with the prime minister, the premier of Quebec as well. Oh, he’s a distant third place to to Vermont.”

The four-term governor said even during COVID, he never missed a tree-tapping.

“Pandemic or not, the maple syrup still runs,” said Sununu.

He said he’s sent maple syrup to every governor in the country, “and they always come back with amazingly creative ways of how they’re using the syrup.”

For example, “Kentucky and Tennesee governors have told me that they use it in their whiskey and their bourbon.”

Sununu, who’s reportedly floating a presidential run, was asked if he would miss the tree-tapping if he became president.

“We’ll plant a tree at the White House,” Sununu responded.

First tapped by Native Americans, it’s a $10 million-a-year business for New Hampshire and is part of the culture, identity and heritage of the state and a top export. On average, the state produces 90,000 gallons of maple syrup each year.

To learn more about maple sugar, go to tinyurl.com/2s4wzbyt.

Sun reporter Daymond Steer contributed to this article.