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Saranac will cut positions
WWW.NORTHCOUNTRYMAN.COM
SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012
CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK
This Week ELIZABETHTOWN
FOOTLOOSE
CHAZY
Chazy Central Rural School battles deficit.
Superintendent suggests regional high schools
PAGE 3
By Stephen Bartlett stephen@denpubs.com
ELLENBURG
D A N N E M O R A — Saranac Central School officials are working to close a $300,000 revenue shortfall. For example, consolidating bus routes would save the district nearly $91,000, though the downside of such a move is three layoffs. Ultimately, there are no easy answers for publicschool leaders, though thinking outside of the box has birthed some progressive ideas. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
New recreation director wants to help area youth. PAGE 5
The Ellenburg youth group from St. Edmund's cuts footloose after an evening of helping out at the town hall revival concert March 24. The group gives town youth a chance to get involved in local causes. See page 5 for a related article.
CHAMPLAIN
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Warm weather halts maple season prematurely By John Grybos jgrybos@denpubs.com
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Tom Sweet said the sap was sweeter this year, so it took less sap to boil down syrup than in less sug-
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ary sap years. That still wasn’t enough of a silver lining to close the production gap compared to an av-
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Buds in the brush along in Tom Sweet's sugarbush reflect buds in his sugar maples' tree tops as the sap turns bitter and ends maple production. Northern New York producers generally had a low-yield year.
Champlain Village drops tax rate.
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CHAZY — Trees and plants are budding around Clinton County. Though that signals the start of lawn care season and return to local parks for recreation, it also signals the early close of sap season for maple producers. “That one warm week just killed us,” said Alex Sweet, who helps his father, Tom Sweet, in the family’s Chazy sugar bush. The 1,500 tap operation produced around half their normal crop this year, where the season only lasted around three weeks for the lowlying maple stand. Warm temperatures cause the sugar maples to bud, turning the sap yellowish and bitter, ending production.
erage season. He also wasn’t ready for the early start to the season this year. The season started early and strong, but Sweet’s sugar house is a second job, and he didn’t have the time for early preparation. He figures that lost him 10 to 15 percent of the sap crop. “It’s not like leaving hay in the field for a few more days, and when you come back you’ll have more hay,” said Tom Sweet. “You never regain it at the end.” It was much the same at Sanger ’s Sugar House. “So far it has been a very disappointing season,” said Kim Sanger. “I think maple producers are the only people who don’t like to see it get too warm too fast.” They boiled March 21, but hadn’t collected sap since then. Their first boil was March 3, so they only got