FENWICK – Traffic at the sugar woods in Fenwick hasn’t been as packed as in previous years but product is still flying off the shelves.
“On a busy day, we usually get 400 or 500 people out here at our camp,” said Pat Donkin, who, along with her husband Don, owns and operates the Donkin’s Maple Sugar Woods. “Usually the road is packed with people. We haven’t seen that yet.”
This year, the maple trees started to produce sap on Feb. 16, and has been flowing really well in the Fenwick area.
“This year was the earliest we started. We had our first big boil Feb. 16, and we opened on the 17th.”
The Donkin’s sell their maple products at stores in Amherst, Springhill and Parrsboro.
“We’ve been open for a month and we don’t quite understand why there’s not as many people visiting here but it’s hard to keep up with the sales, so product is selling one way or another,” said Donkin. “We have all the business we can handle.”
On Saturday, 30 Japanese students from Mount Allison visited as well as 20 international students from the Mount Allison Semester Studies in English (MASSIE) program at Mount Allison. They also had 22 international high school students visit on Saturday.
“We have also had kids come in from pre-school and kids from the elementary schools come here as well,” said Donkin. “We have a special camp song we teach the kids. Instead of Old MacDonald had a Farm, it’s Donald Donkin’s had a Woods. They are so sweet.”
The kids taste ‘candy on the snow’, and Don takes them out to tap a maple tree.
“Don has a great way with the kids. He’ll drill a hole in the tree and say to the kids, ‘did you ever have somebody give you a needle?’” said Donkin. “They’ll say, ‘yes.’ And he’ll say, ‘well this is what we’re doing to the tree. We’re giving it a needle, and a little bit of sap comes out of the tree. It will stop after a while and it will all heal.’”
Recent years have seen an increase in people visiting from New Brunswick and Halifax.
“They come from Memramcook, Sackville, Cap-Pelé, Moncton and Halifax,” said Donkin. “This morning we had five families come from the Masstown Area. I think they hear from word of mouth because we don’t really advertise.”
The Donkin’s operation has been passed down through the generations, with Don taking over production in the late 80’s.
“It’s a lot of work but it’s very rewarding meeting all the people who come back year-after-year,” said Pat. “We have some who have come here 20 years or more. Their families grow up coming here.”
