Looking Back: The Making of Syrup

While I am hardly old enough to reminisce about the good old days when maple syrup was hand-boiled by families across the north east and the corn-syrup “Aunt Jemima” substitute had never been invented, I nevertheless find myself thinking back to those times. Because although I am a child of the Aunt Jemima generation, I was fortunate enough to be raised on nothing but pure and sweet real maple syrup—I have never seen a bottle of fake syrup in my house in all the 16 years I have been alive. I grew up with home-tapped, home-boiled, home-made maple syrup that came from my grandparents' farm in Vermont; some of my fondest memories are of sitting by the huge furnace in the sugar shack, eating hot dogs and talking through the cold March nights.

And then, a few years ago, I decided to make syrup myself. With my parents' support, I bought the taps, the plastic tubing, the buckets, and the cinderblocks to build the fireplace, and jumped right in and made maple syrup. People say watching the ocean is calming, but nothing can compare to sitting outside under the shelter of a little overhang on an old stump, and settling down beside a fire-brick and cinderblock oven to watch vats of syrup chug away merrily, filling the air with steam and the sweet smell that only those who have boiled their own can imagine. And then the end result—the jars of golden liquid you eventually bottle, each batch tasting completely different, lined up on a shelf to be used in the months to come.

Boiling syrup has been a north-east tradition, one started by the Indian tribes who lived here first. The method of making maple syrup has remained unchanged through the hundreds of years it has been around; the trees are still drilled, the sap is still collected, and the syrup is still boiled over open flame. But unfortunately, the time when early spring was a season where every farm across the state was busy hauling buckets of sap and anxiously stirring pots of syrup is long gone.

Tractor Auction Draws Men From Far Away

Fans of antique tractors came to Middletown from as far away as Illinois and Nebraska on Saturday, to participate in an auction of part of the collection of Ron Emanuelson. Under a spectacular Autumn sky, Emanuelson (starting the tractor shown in the bottom photo) beamed with joy as people admired the 41 tractors, 2 antique farm trucks, and assorted antique tractor parts displayed on his farm.

Emanuelson frequently displays some of his favorite old tractors in front of his barn and silos at the corner of Higby and Country Club Road. He raises hay and pumpkins in Middletown and soybeans in Kansas. Fortunately for Middletown tractor enthusiasts, the 41 tractors represent only about half of his collection.

Planning and Zoning Approves Public Nightclub Expansion and Disapproves of Animal Regulations

After hearing from the Police Chief and Fire Marshall, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a special exception for an expansion and modification of The Public nightclub. The Commission also gave a highly negative recommendation of proposed Ordinance changes regarding farm animals, following the testimony of several members of the Farm Bureau.

Public Bar
Tyler DeVecchis, owner of The Public, needed retroactive P&Z approval for an expansion which he did last year. Additionally, concerns about public safety were raised by a disturbance at The Public which led to a large police response on December 27th. As a result of this incident, The Public is now required to hire two off-duty police officers on Friday and Saturday nights. The commissioners had delayed a decision on the expansion at their last meeting, so they could hear from the Police and the Fire Department whether The Public nightclub was safe for downtown Middletown.

Chief McMahon told the commissioners that The Public generates on average about twice the number of police service calls as another popular bar on Main Street, Nikita's. He acknowledged that these service calls cannot be used to evaluate the relative safety of each drinking establishment, because some bars will call the police proactively, to prevent any trouble. McMahon was reluctant to make an evaluation of the effects of The Public on Main Street

safety for the commissioners.

Commissioner Nick Fazzino pressed him, "Shed some light for me on how it's affecting downtown." Chief McMahon responded with a rhetorical question which he then answered, "Does this type of establishment tax our services? Yes, it does." But he went on to say that his department would always take a proactive view towards preventing any problems from occurring.

The Fire Chief and Fire Marshall both testified that the expanded facility met all fire and safety codes.

The Commissioners unanimously approved the DeVecchis application, but not before Chairman Quentin Phipps admonished DeVecchis that he needed to work hard to rebuild the trust of the community as well as his neighbors in the Downtown Business District.

Animal Ordinance

Several members of the public rose to criticize a proposed ordinance change regarding the keeping of farm animals in Middletown. Joan Nichols introduced herself as a Government Relations Specialist with the Connecticut Farm Bureau. She protested the requirement that animals be 25 feet from the property line, calling this setback a government taking of an enormous amount of usable pasture land from farmers, leaving the farmer with an unmanageable strip of land which would be grown over with vines and saplings. She suggested instead that the regulation require fencing sufficient to stop animals from reaching neighboring property.

Nichols also objected to the restriction that animals be kept 75 feet from any body of water. She said that state statutes explicitly permit the grazing of cattle in wetlands, and that many farmers have ponds which they use to water their animals. She likened the 75 feet rule also to a taking of a farmer's land. Two farmers, active in the Middlesex County Farm Bureau, John Paul and Barbara Schukoske, echoed Nichols' concerns. I also spoke, as someone with a few farm animals on about 5 acres, agreeing that a 25 feet set back from the property line would cause enormous practical difficulties for farmers.

The Planning and Zoning commissioners agreed with the farmers' concerns, and voted unanimously to give the proposed ordinance a negative recommendation. In addition, they recommended specific changes in the ordinance, in particular to fix the set-back and wetlands provisions.

Other business.
The Commission approved a Site Plan for a 12,000 square foot commercial office building on Middle Street, near the intersection with Timber Ridge. They approved a lease of a 2400 square foot space in the Remington Rand building to Joseph Labella as warehouse space for his painting business. The rent will be $800 per month ($4 per square foot per year). The Commission approved an application by John Moore for his business, Fat City Customs, to obtain a new car dealership permit from the state. Moore said he needed this to sell his custom built motorcycles.

Artie Schiemann Day

(Happy 90th, Artie.)










It was Artie Schiemann's 90th birthday today. It was also declared Artie Shiemann day in Middletown, Monday January 5th 2009.

Shiemann, who was brought up on his family farm, since he was just over a year old, and only left to serve his country during World War II in North Africa and Italy, and still resides on, and works the field of his farm, was honored for deeding the development rights to the 32 acres to Middletown.

Middletown, which purchased the development rights at a fraction of market value ($250,000), sees the Schiemann farm as another way to preserve farmland and open space in town.

"I did it because I thought about my mother and father and how much they loved the farm," Schiemann said. "And I did it because it made me feel good."

Schiemann's father actually purchased the first 25 acres of land in October 1920, and then bought an additional 38 acres. During the Great Depression the farm kept the family in produce, milk, meat and eggs, helping them survive a rough decade. When Art purchased the farm from his family, he sold off all but 34 acres. But on those acres he kept a dairy herd of 25 cows and sold milk commercially from 1950-1981.

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano read the proclamation and awarded it to Sheimann.

"Middletown is able to do more than other cities in preserving open space," the mayor said. "Because of people like Artie, we're able to strike a balance between development and conservation."

Middletown's Cultural Council was also awarded a tribute on its thirty years of service, particularly that of longtime music teacher, and culture promoter Santo Fragilio who has served the city as a cultural ambassador and educator for 60 years.