Sugaring is a labor of love for Pat and Aline LeClaire

Pat LeClaire may not have maple syrup coursing through his veins, but he’s been sugaring for so long that it might as well be the case.

Pat was 7 or 8 years old when he first started collecting sap and boiling it at his family’s home in Charlotte. In high school he returned to the craft with some friends, hanging close to 1,000 buckets in woods off Greenbush Road, but his career as a lineman for Green Mountain Power interrupted his sugaring.

Eleven years ago, Pat retired, and the lure of Vermont’s liquid gold called him back. He and his wife Aline hung roughly 65 buckets near their house and along Lime Kiln Road and ran pipes to the rest of their sugar woods. They enjoy having neighborhood kids empty the buckets into a tailgate tank as they drive down the road, an enjoyment that is definitely reciprocated.

Maple Open House Weekend is a time when Vermont sugar makers open their doors to visitors, but the LeClaire’s sugarhouse is always open to the public and Aline said Pat enjoys explaining the sugaring process as much as he enjoys the product. Sometimes a friend brings homemade donuts for visitors to dunk in the hot syrup.

“I’ve had days when I was discouraged,” Pat said, “but sugaring just helps you pick yourself up.”

A nearby Airbnb houses tourists from around the world and the hosts direct those visitors to the sugarhouse. Pat recalls a German tourist who wanted to know when he injected the dye into the sap and was embarrassed when Pat explained that the color change is the result of caramelization. Pat quickly assured the man that there are no stupid questions and that it was great that he wanted to learn something new.

The couple readily admits that their sugarhouse is short on bells and whistles.

“We don’t have music or do breakfasts,” Aline said. “We’re an old-fashioned Vermont sugarhouse.”

She said visitors often use the word quaint to describe their operation. One couple from Washington State, who had been to a larger sugarhouse before visiting the LeClaires where they were thrilled to have the sugaring process explained to them.

“We’re not packed with people,” she said, “so there is time for us to really interact with visitors.”

Pat and Aline have been married for 36 years. Born in Winooski, Aline was working as a wholesale florist when Pat’s ex-wife, a floral shop owner who interacted with her professionally, decided to introduce the two, claiming that since they were the most boing people she knew, maybe they would get along. They’ve been together ever since.

This year, the LeClaires made 253 gallons of syrup which they consider a good year. Their best year, that total was a little over 500 gallons. Although sugaring with buckets is picturesque, the LeClaires are moving away from that time-honored tradition.

“At 70 I’m getting too old for buckets,” Pat said.

“There were some trying times this season,” Pat recalls. He noted that when the frost left the woods, the sap began to run hard, but the roots were sucking up sand. He said this year featured a lot of sap but not a lot of sugar. Because of that, some days it took close to 100 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. Normally that number is between 34 and 40. Pat said they only made 6 gallons of light fancy syrup with the rest being dark, robust. For a day or two, the syrup had a slight taste of butterscotch.

The LeClaires are looking to make some changes to their sugarhouse. The addition of a steam pan has improved the process, but they are thinking about investing in reverse osmosis machinery. This year, they burned more than 7 cords of wood; interestingly the year they made 500 gallons, they needed less than 6 cords.

Pat enjoys being in the woods and while he savors the end product of his labor, he also relishes contact with visitors who come to the sugarhouse. Even in the middle of summer, he’s more than willing to take the time to talk about his equipment and explain how to make Vermont’s signature product.

“This is a labor of love,” Pat said. “As long as we make enough to cover our expenses, we’re happy.”