Thurman's Maple Producers in Their Own Words

We've arrived at the last weekend of Thurman Maple Days. If you go, please try our new app, which triggers first-hand stories told by Thurman's five maple producers.

While there are more points of interest we want to spotlight and more features we want to add to our self-guided audio tour of Thurman, we invite anyone who is venturing north tomorrow or Sunday for the last weekend of Thurman Maple Days to try our new app.

We’ve started by spotlighting Thurman’s five maple producers. All collect sap with miles of vacuum tubes and save energy using reverse osmosis, but they practice their craft in different ways that are fun to compare.

To download the app, just point your camera at this QR code:

Even simpler, just click the audio files we’ve shared below. Dominic Giordano on our team has done great work in ElevenLabs, converting text to speech that closely matches the producers we interviewed.

Ralph Senecal of Valley Road Maple is a steady presence in Thurman’s maple community, known for the quiet consistency with which he and his family tend their trees and craft their syrup. For years they’ve offered a delicious pancake breakfast that’s the first stop for many.

Charles Wallace runs Hidden Hollow Maple with his wife, Michelle, continuing a family tradition that goes back decades. They’ll produce 2000 gallons in a typical season. That makes them Warren County’s largest maple producer.

Mike and Ingrid Richter of Candy Mountain Maple are the most science-oriented of Thurman’s producers, bringing backgrounds in environmental chemistry to every aspect of their operation. They practice their own hands-on variation of STEM that starts in the forest and ends at the evaporator.

Jeff and Robin Mahler of Mud Street Maple bring a distinctive culinary sensibility to Thurman’s maple tradition, shaped in large part by Jeff’s background as a chef. His approach to maple is guided by both production and flavor, reflecting a cook’s instinct for balance and creativity.

At Toad Hill Maple, Randy Galusha has created an experience as memorable as the syrup itself, blending traditional wood-fired sugaring with a welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere that includes horse-drawn wagon rides and a display of maple-sugaring tools and techniques.