Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 4 : Spring 2010 | Page 64

UMFK hosts its 12th annual “Sucrerie”

The University of Maine at Fort
Kent hosted its first Sucrerie back
in 1999. Since then, the campus
has held the event each year during
the month of March. The Sucrerie
draws more than 300 people to the
UMFK campus, annually.
The “maple sugary recreation” is
an event open to the public and
features a maple sugar-making
demonstration,
a
traditional
Acadian meal, an old-fashioned
maple taffy pull, and live
entertainment.
The Sucrerie
provides an opportunity for
students, faculty, staff, and the
community to experience the local
French heritage.
A maple sugar operator from nearby Lac Unique,
New Brunswick, Canada provides the maple syrup.
Maple taffy, also known as “sugar on snow,” is a
confection made by boiling maple sap past the point at
which it forms maple syrup. The thick liquid is poured
onto the snow, then lifted with a small wooden stick,
such as a popsicle stick. Once sufficiently hardened,
the candy can be picked up and eaten.
The traditional Acadian meal is served with “ployes”
by volunteers from the UMFK campus community,
who are dressed in Acadian costumes. The costumes
are provided by the Greater Madawaska Chamber of
Commerce.
The Sucrerie is a favorite of local school teachers who
often bring their classes to the UMFK campus to
sample the maple syrup treat, and experience a bit of
the French heritage.
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SPRING 2010