[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3811-3812]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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               JACKSON'S SUGAR HOUSE AND VEGETABLE STAND

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, each year as winter makes way for 
spring, across my home state of Maine you will see maple trees lined 
with metal buckets poised to collect delectable maple syrup. Maine is 
the third largest producer of maple syrup in America, and last year 
experienced a 14 percent increase, generating a remarkable 360,000 
gallons. As maple sugar season commences and Maine looks forward to 
celebrating the time-honored Maple Sugar Sunday, I rise to commend 
Jackson's Sugar House & Vegetable Stand located in Oxford, ME.
  Often times a small request sparks a marvelous business enterprise. 
For Roger Jackson, owner of Jackson's Sugar House & Vegetable Stand, 
his passion for maple syrup was reignited a few years ago when his 
granddaughter sought help for a school project on how to make the sweet 
liquid. Although Roger had been producing maple syrup on and off since 
he was 6 years old, his granddaughter's question renewed his love for 
this New England staple. And the results have been incredibly sweet.
  As a veteran in maple syrup production, Roger is familiar with the 
trials

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and tribulations that go along with this endeavor. While it is often 
hard to turn a profit as a small producer, the smiles on his customers' 
faces truly make it all worthwhile. Further, compared to when Roger was 
a child, improvements in technology have certainly enhanced and eased 
the process of turning sap into maple sugar. For example, today 
Jackson's Sugar House uses a stainless steel evaporator--equipment that 
enables them to easily remove water and ensure better control over the 
quality of their product. This evaporation process is a vast 
improvement over Roger's childhood maple making experiences involving 
boiling sap over an open flame.
  Roger's expertise in maple syrup has certainly not gone unnoticed. He 
was recently appointed by the Maine Department of Agriculture 
Commissioner, Walter Whitcomb, to the Maine Maple Task Force Study 
Group to represent producers of maple sugar products with 1,000 or 
fewer taps. This Task Force was created in May of 2011, as part of the 
State's legislation ``To Study the Promotion and Expansion of the Maine 
Maple Sugar Industry.'' Roger's participation on the task force has 
been instrumental in ensuring that the needs of small producers and mom 
and pop sugarhouse operations are vigorously advocated.
  Maple syrup and all maple sugar products are certainly among the 
sweetest commodities produced in Maine. Thanks to the proficiency and 
resolve of individuals such as Roger Jackson, Maine continues to 
produce the highest quality maple products. I am proud to extend my 
congratulations to Roger Jackson and everyone at Jackson's Sugar House 
& Vegetable Stand for their dedication to excellence, and offer my best 
wishes for their continued success.

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