The temperatures rise, the temperatures fall - - typical Keweenaw weather for sure. When those temperatures get up in the 40's, the area maple trees take on an abnormal growth. In this old-time postcard from Russ Emmons you notice the "old bucket hanging from the tree" method for collecting sap to make Maple Syrup. Of course modern day techniques are a bit more sophisticated than this shot from the 1900's, as you can see here, in Peg Riemer's archived photo:

Good Morning from the USS Wasp, the pix of the day makes my day in the Mediterranean sea all the more enjoyable.

Hey Jeff,
I remember days at sea all too well, and often we would sit DIW, saving on fuel maybe. An internet connection to home would have been welcome. Carried the nat'l ensign during the decommissioning of the McCain, and the future senator was in attendance, a Lt. Com. as I recall. And now there is another ship of the same name. Say hello to the guys in CIC.
Are the stars bright at night?

Good morning Jeff, USS Wasp eh? Like the name of your ship. Makes me think your mission is going in and stinging our enemies in the backside before they know it and like the wasp itself causing some serious pain. GO NAVY!! Please tell all the men & women aboard we appreciate them.

Go Navy,
Old 50's Destroyer sailor,USS Parsons DD949

Another old salt, Jeff. Two Med. cruises aboard the Mattabesset, AOG-52, long decommissioned and lost to posterity. Enjoy your time there. It'll be some good memories (50 years from now). Good sailing and thanks for your service.

Ahh!! A Navy Theme!! It would be interesting to see where a lot of us have been during our years shipboard. I picked up my ship in Brooklyn in 1966 and we traversed the Panama Canal for our new homeport of Pearl Harbor. This led to to tours to Viet Nam and liberty in Olongapo City, Philippines as well as ports of call in Hong Kong and Tokyo. Anyone care to take a cyber trip around the world?

Any,by the way, God Bless all our troops abroad!!Welcome Home Brothers and Sisters!

Sorry for this 3rd post, but I forgot to name my ship. It was the USS TANNER AGS-15. Maybe some of you remember it or were on it.

Fran... Cook up some pancakes and get the syrup from the above picture. We'll be right up!

It looks like I started something, but actually I'm carrying on the legacy that Salty Dog, Uncle Bud, and the Viet Nam Vet, started. And it is to you ladies and gentleman out there that have gone before me, that I stand up and salute. I have 20 years in this organization, and in those years I have had my good times, and some bad, but that is life anywhere in this great country of ours. So smile at each other today on the street, kiss the ones you love, and continue to pass on to the generations to come the appreciation you have for your country.

My dad used to make maple syrup every year..sometimes my uncles and cousins would help as well.
We had our yard tapped and hanging with tin cans obtained from Michigan Tech cafeteria :)
We used to do several hundred trees. We pulled sleds by hand with milk jugs on them to collect the sap..every day after school.

The top of the can usually had sap ice in the morning..we used to eat that on the way to school.

My dad would sit out in the woods boiling for quite awhile..late into the morning to be sure the stuff came out right...

Lots of work, but great fun :)

Speaking of Navy Ships I served aboard the USS Mt McKinley(AGC-7)...USS Annapolis (AGMR-1)...USS BERKELEY (DDG-15)...USS John R Graig (DD-885)...USS Engage (MSO-433) and Uss Reaper(MSO-467)which led to four tours to Viet Nam and liberty ports to numerous to mention. Fair winds and following seas to all my shipmates, and to all those who served and are presently serving.

Just had waffles and bacon for breakfast this morning, topped with Michigan maple syrup. Mumm it was good! I also tapped our maple tree (with a fort in) when we were kids on our family farm. We used a straw in the hole with a bucket to collect the syrup.

Abe,
underway service ships, destroyers,guided missle destroyers, mine layers etc,
you done it all
didnt your play hocky for the CLK Radars back in the early 50's too
eh eh

Greetings to all from another 1950's era destroyer sailor, U. S. S. Haynsworth (DD-700).

Check our web site usshaynsworth.com

Go Watersmeet Nimrods, be sure to tune in to Leno:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1759148

USS Prairie AD15 89-92' 2 westpac's and Desert Storm. Thoughts are with you Jeff and the rest of the ShellBacks.

I just have to jump in on the Navy talk...my hubby, Jim served aboard the USS Nashville LPD-13, '70 - '72, and is a plank owner.
My Dad and three brothers all served in the Navy also, but I don't know the names of the ships they were on.
Now, carrying on the proud tradition, our oldest son, Greg reports for bootcamp in Waukegan, IL, on June 3rd.

What type of ship is the WASP, Jeff? My husband thinks it might be a carrier...

Thanks to all our veterans and those currently serving our country!

Jeff.....You said it all!! Thank you for your service...so that the rest of us can enjoy the things such as are pictured above!!

Alex, we could have blueberry pancakes with blueberries from our yard. Yummm!

How about maple syrup on a pasty?
Partly kidding. Strawberry jam on salami - yumm!

my husband & I had a good friend fram Skanee who used to make maple syrup from his trees on his farm. Rick would go to visit John & help him tap the trees.The two of them had so much fun going out there and enjoying their couple of beers together waiting for the sap to run. It was the "best" syrup we ever tasted. Our friend is gone now but every year when the sap starts to run, we always remember John & his great syrup

Congratulations to Darin and Missy in Corinth Tx on your new baby girl, I'm sure she is as sweet as maple syrup.

Oooo! Fresh yard picked blueberries! Can we have Pasties for desert? (Smirk)

I need a YUpper Helper. Today on OLN tv they had a segment from the UP. I thought oh, great, then they went to Minnesota. This guy called the lake Mille Lacs (Mill Laks) and I remember my dad calling them Mille Lacs (Millie Laks) OK so which is it. I studied two years of French and I know what it can be, but what do we YUpers call them???

I also congratulate Darin & MIssy on their new little girl because she is my great niece too. I'm sure she is as cute as her Mommy & two bigger sisters.

As far as I know Lake Mille Lacs is suppose to sound like (mill laks). My DAd is from st.paul and his uncle has a cabin up in the area so we use to go up there for a week ever few summers. I remember seeing that before i ever saw any of the great lakes and couldn't believe how big it was or how big the waves were when there was a storm when we drove by once. But as far as i know thats the only lake i know of where you can have pizza delivered to your fishing shantee.

I'd like to add another Copper Country Navy veteran-
my father, a Houghton native, was in the Navy's Fleet
Air Wing 7 during WWII. He was stationed in
Dunkeswell, Devon, England. The men of FAW-7 flew
Liberators (PB4Y-1's or to all you USAAF vets, the
Navy's version of the B-24). They patrolled and
protected the merchant fleets in the Bay of Biscay. Dad
flew there and back, and though he was in the Navy,
was never onboard a ship, choosing wings instead.

Hey all,
I would like to say thank you to all the armed services posts.A lot of navy posts to be sure,Thx to all that have served this great country and God bless America.....

Sad news in the Copper Country. There was a head on collision this afternoon which resulted in the fatality of two young Calumet High kids. Nikki Kinnonun and Brian Tober were on their way to Houghton when they got into the accident near the airport. Many phone calls, friends gathering and families together over this terrible tragedy. The families need our prayers. Our weather is very bad today. Windy, snowy, icy roads. Please stay off the roads and drive safely if you must go out.

I learned to appreciate the taste of UP maple syrup when I worked at Usher's Sawmill and Sugarbush. We tapped about 4500 trees each year. Many gallons of syrup and about 40 times as many gallons of maple sap. Carrying two 5 or 6 gallon gathering buckets to the tank sleigh and running back for more. By the end of the day your knuckles feel like they are dragging on the ground. But the taste...it's ambrosia from da woods!

I've been looking at the photos from the UP all night, missing home. I've been here in the Caribbean as an exchange student now for 6 months. Though the sun and beaches are nice, and Santo Domingo is a fun city, I do miss the snow, and the familiarity of Calumet and the nearby towns and countryside. (As a recent CHS grad, that is something I thought I would NEVER say!) It is nice to stay connected to home, no matter where I am, or how hot the weather is!

My daughter's class made fresh maple syrup in school last week. It was pretty good but not like the stuff from the UP.
Did 12 1/2 years in the Navy on submarines from 1987 to 2000 and ended up staying in Connecticut when I got out, though I can't wait for the day I can go back home. Went plenty of places but didn't see most of them - hard to see under water with no windows! I do appreciate what the military men and women do for all of us and I wish them the best of luck. To the Sailors, Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Ahh,.... the sweet sap!

Indeed, the USS Wasp, CV-18, was a carrier. She was decommissioned in 1972, I believe. Served from WW2 thru Vietnam.
Great old picture...the local maple syrup place near Cedarville (eastern UP) is strung with what looks like miles of plastic tubing, all collecting what we used to collect in buckets. Still tastes the same though...great.

Are there places where they do demonstrations of the Maple Syrup/sap gathering?

Speaking of Navy Ships, of special interest to the people of the Copper Country is the USS MOUNT VERNON AP22. Ninety (90) Naval Reservists from this area served aboard this ship during World War Two, most of whom were aboard for the duration of the war, my Father and Uncle among them. This ship can be viewed at www.navsource.org
click on "Service Vessels", scroll down to "Transports and Barracks ships", click on "AP Transports", then scroll down to AP22 Mount Vernon.

spelled shantig not shantee also how manny gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup thanks

Did you know there was a USS KEWEENAW..if only for a short time..
http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/Patroller.html

Walter P.

About 40 gal. sap to to make 1 gal.maple syrup.

Growing up in the 50's, I remember my grandmother tapping all of the large sugar maples in her yard on the farm. It always amazed my young mind the amount of sap one of those old maples could produce in one day. I say that because one of my jobs after school was to help her gather the sap. She would boil it down in her kitchen. You can just imagine the clean up after releasing all that water vapor(with a little sticky sap included) in the kitchen. But the taste of that syrup on home made waffles and pancakes was delightful. It is a fond memory of life at grandma's farm.

Oh, yes, even though I lived in the Copper Country for a 10 years, I grew up as a troll and the farm was down state.

CKLL THANKS FOR THE INFO

i remember making maple syrup with my grandpa soumis. what wonderful memories!