Saturday, April 27, 2024 Saturday, April 27, 2024
Taylor County Lions and Lioness clubs from Gilman, Medford, Jump River, Rib Lake and Whittlesey worked together to host the annual Maple Festival held at the Simek Recreation Center on April 27.
The event is held the last Saturday in April and celebrates the impact that maple trees and maple syrup have on the region. The event began with a pancake breakfast with locally produced maple syrup with food and refreshments available throughout the day.
Attendees got the opportunity to view and purchase a variety of craft items from vendors as well as take tours of nearby sugar shacks to see the changes in maple syrup harvest and processing that have occurred in recent years.
One of the highlights of the event is the maple syrup judging contest.
Fifty-five Maple Syrup entries from Wisconsin and surrounding states were judged on density, clarity & flavor. The judging results were 22 entries receiving the Blue Award, 23 entries receiving the Red Award and 6 received the white award. Five of the first-place syrups received a perfect score.
Four entries were disqualified because of taste or the density of the syrup was either too high or too low.
Judges report that overall the quality of the syrup entered was very good.
In addition to the maple syrup judging, there was also a competition among area schools to decorate wagons as parade floats. Six floats were entered in the Competition and judged on the following: Expression of the theme - 'Maple Magic,” Originality and Artistic Merit. Judges noted it was a very competitive contest with all floats representing excellent workmanship.
The results were: First Place - Casa Mara 4-H - winning $300, Second Place - Stetsonville Pure Performance winning $200, Third Place - Holy Rosary - 3rd Grade winning $100. Tied for Fourth Place were Holy Rosary 4th Grade winning $50, Holy Rosary Kindergarten winning $50 and Gilman Elementary 2nd Grade winning $50.
The students led their wagon floats around the Simek Center in a parade led by the Lion’s Club Lion Mascot and Alice in Dairyland Ashley Hagenow.
While many events took place indoors, there were activities outdoors including a chainsaw wood carver and a pedal tractor tug of war between the Taylor County Sheriff’ s Department and the Medford Area Fire Department. The fire department personnel won that tossup.
For youngsters, the Phillips Children’s Museum was on hand with games and activities for young people to play and learn with.
Pedal tractor results
The Medford Fire Department had the best time at 1:48.14 minutes on the .1 mile oval run. The Medford High School Football representatives placed second at 2:02.62 minutes. The Taylor County Sheriff’ s Office team placed third at 2:04.56 minutes. Two special highlights were to have Alice in Dairyland, Ashley Hagenow, driving the pedal tractor around the course with 7 pedalers, and an actual “pull-off” between the Medford Fire Team on a John Deere pulling against the Taylor County Sheriff’ s Office team on a Farmall. The pull-off was won by the Medford Fire Department. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the competition.
Lee Waldhart of Stetsonville built these two pedal tractors and loaned them to Maple Fest for this event.
Story by Brian Wilson Layout by Lydia Erickson
