Randall's Heritage Maple continues its legacy

ALEXANDER, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Maple season continues this weekend with New York's second Maple Weekend of the year, but how did this event get its start?

Maple producer Eric Randall at Randall's Heritage Maple claims it was all him.

"As a little kid on the sap sled behind teams of horses I was five years old and out there with my grandfather and my uncle and my great uncle. It was great fun," Randall said. "Today from the ten of us that started it there are now less than 200 throughout the state and almost every maple-producing state and province in the world now has emulated New York's Maple Weekend. So we're very proud of that and it started right here."

Randall's family has been working in maple since 1848 and they produce upwards of 1,000 gallons of syrup a year. Maple Sunday began when Randall and his wife, along with ten others, decided to teach their craft to the public. Then Maple Sunday turned into Maple Weekend which now spans over two weekends.

"If you were ready you had a good crop this year. We were ready, a lot of my colleagues were ready. If you were late getting to the woods, you missed most of the season this year," said Randall.

With this winter's unseasonably warm temperatures, Randall tapped his trees in late January. It was a fast and furious season for them and this year was one of the earliest they've tapped into their trees. The usual tapping season is February through March.

"Appropriate weather is long periods of cold. Also three to four day periods where we having thawing temperatures during the day then a freeze at night," said Randall. "There's a saying you always you always look forward to the season starting and you look forward to the it ending. It's intense, you get very tired. It's a lot of work regardless of your age and regardless of the size of your operation."

Randall and his wife still use thousands of buckets to tap their trees. They have a lot of work cut out for them even if they do switch to modern food grade tubing. However, his family's legacy will be sure to continue as the maple syrup runs in his bloodline.