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Valentown Greetings,

March has always seemed a transitional month. By the close of the 
month everyone is ready for April and planning for the warmer 
weather. In rural America no one really had time off from work. 
Seeds were ordered from catalogs and many animals on the farm 
were giving birth. The day was always full of useful and needful 
things to do.

In this part of the country there is the tradition of maple 
sugaring. The mighty maple trees of North America awed the first 
Europeans. Acer Saccharum is the Sugar Maple we know and love, 
except when they spin their "samaras", some in spring and some in 
fall. All maples produce a sweet sap but only the Sugar Maple has 
the high sugar content worth making syrup from, with a 40 to 1 
ratio. The first harvesters of the sap were the Northeastern 
Native Americans. (Yet another gift to the world from Native 
American culture.) Sugaring was changed to a more bountiful 
production method by Europeans who discovered the delight very 
early on during exploration of the Eastern States and especially 
Canada. Quebec is the largest producer of maple syrup and 
products today. And the syrups are graded both in the U.S. and 
Canada.

Healthy trees when tapped properly can be sapped every year for 
generations without damage to the tree, some for close to 100 
years. It was always a very labor intensive business, but so was 
just about everything else done in those days. Horses played a 
key role in the ability to get into the tight spaces in the 
"bush" and back out with the precious sap. Many places still use 
horses for low environmental impact even though the equipment to 
harvest has become a science with poly tubing and monitors. And 
the risks and elements are still the same- with good years 
harvests and not so good.

Our heritage is all around us. And the area around Valentown had 
several maple sugaring operations in the past. We can walk by a 
big maple and not always see the part it might play in our 
landscapes. A hometown farmer and harvester is probably right in 
your neighborhood or area. Urban tapping happens too. With all 
the land being clear cut, it is important to support a hometown 
industry like maple sugaring, and all of the wonderful products 
that are still made right here just like in the past for everyone 
to enjoy. Buy local and buy the real thing, made just for you 
with great pride.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup

As always, we are your down home hometown museum.
Kathryn White, President
 

Quote of the Month
 

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I 
would still plant my apple tree". - Martin Luther

News and Events
(For other ongoing News & Events, check our web site or our 
Facebook page.)
 

We had company last September! Remember?

At the end of September 2018 we scheduled a meeting with
a company south of Syracuse who has hometown start up roots.
Just what we like. Woodford Bros. had humble beginnings that
have grown and expanded over the years and are still family
run.This was the first exploration for us in investigating
the cost of making the needed repairs to Historic Valentown
Hall. We hope you checked out the information regarding
Woodford Bros. in our February newsletter.

And the final quote for the repair/replacement for the siding
at Valentown is:

................(drum roll)..............

$95,392.14
This estimate needs to be adjusted as they quoted us for
4 sides and the northern side of the building does not need
replacement. The price does not include the actual wood which
we hope to provide from another source who has our template.
We did contact a local company in the area also and initially
heard from them, but afterwards they never replied to our
request for an estimate. If anyone knows of another possible
resource in the up-state area please let us know!

WEB SITE NEWS

The forum topic "Everything Potato" has been renamed "Potato
Plot for Maggie Murphy" in honor of her memory. Links to
recipes prior to the title change will not be impacted. We
are also working on building a quick reference recipe index
for the whole recipe forum. Remember, if you're looking for a
general recipe with a specific ingredient in it, you can use
the "Search Valentown" link in the menu on the web site.

EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS
Poll Topic Results: Planning 2019 Museum Events and Activities. 

Thanks to all who participated in our Web Site Events
Planning Poll! The following list of events are ranked in
order of the events that people indicated they were most
interested to the ones in which they were least interested:

77% An antique appraisal day of your treasures
77% A Wine and Chocolate Tasting

69% An Afternoon or Evening Blue Grass or Folk Music Event

62% A Social or Professional Happy Hour Networking Event
62% A Beer Tasting Event With A Local Brewery?
62% Old Fashioned Game Competitions (like horseshoes,
bocce ball, croquet)

54% Craft Nights. Could be old crafts or new crafts.
54% An Afternoon or Evening Pizza Party

38% An Afternoon Euchre Tournament
38% Movie Nights (PG) Entertaining, Educational,
Cultural, Historical

Look In Your Closets! Your Attics!
Your Garages! Your Basements!

We're very excited to announce that we are working out
the details with a well known and reputable appraiser for
an *antique appraisal day* this coming October! So keep
your eyes and ears open, because as soon as we have
things finalized, we'll be sharing the details with the
public!

Valentown Mason Bee Harvest

We've harvested our Mason Bees at last! It's still too early to 
set them up them outside, so they'll remain hibernating in the 
refrigerator for another month or so. We ended up with only 15 
tubes used for nests, and alas, all the cocoons in 5 of the tubes 
had been eaten by pollen mites. We had been hopeful to at least 
have broken even after harvesting with 75 cocoons. So That was a 
devastating loss, but unavoidable as the mites get in the cells 
by being carried in by the queens when they are building the 
nests. However, the really good news is that of the 10 remaining 
tubes, we harvested an amazing 62 cocoons! It's exciting to know 
that the bees that did survive the challenging environmental 
elements at Valentown showed such endurance and strength, and 
demonstrated such a healthy regeneration! It will be interesting 
to see how this next generation of Valentown bees will do.

Lynne has a lot of bee cocoons from her own brood and would like 
to rehome some of them. If you would like to try a small mason 
bee starter kit, get in touch with her at 
webmaster at historicvalentownmuseum.org.
Spring will be here before you know it!

Just a reminder, your Amazon shopping can help Historic
Valentown!
See illustrated instructions on how to set it up? and what to
visually expect in our forums:
How to set up a Smile.Amazon.com Account
<http://historicvalentownmuseum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=148&fbclid=IwAR09T4sS-p-RyZfgQgU1fyNuhM8aBQpbBp5wlBeL0oZTHmNI5tuWxFpN7W8>;

Please consider becoming a community member
<http://historicvalentownmuseum.org/page.php/communitymemberships>*
of Victor Historical Society and support
HISTORIC VALENTOWN on a yearly basis. Members get to vote
and have other perks as well!

Find Us on Facebook! 
<https://www.facebook.com/Historic-Valentown-157101550971895/>;

Recipes
See our collection of recipes and hints, tips and substitutions at
http://historicvalentownmuseum.org/forum/index.php?cat=2
 

Breakfast pancakes, waffles and sausage... move over.
There's lots of other ways to enjoy maple syrup!

Did you know that maple syrup can be used as a substitute

for any recipe that calls for honey? It's true! Not only
that, but maple syrup makes a great glaze for pork and
chicken, barbecue ribs,
salmon and haddock fillets, desserts, and even vegetables!
This months recipe is in appreciation of our Maple trees.

"Simply delicious, and healthy too! I discovered this quite
by experiment when I was going to make a honey salad dressing
and realized I was out of honey. So I used maple syrup. Since
then, I've found out there are a gazillion ways to use maple
syrup (who knew?), and it's become a 'must have' in my
pantry." ~~~Lynne

Ingredients

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil

1 small garlic clove, minced
Dash salt/pepper

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting
lid, shake, and pour over salad to taste.

Levi's "What is it?" Department

Hello Friends,

As you know we have a very unique building Valentown Hall. When 
it was operating we had a shop keeper, in fact maybe two shop 
keepers who would use tools like this for their work. Many parts 
to this job required a skilled hand and some muscle. Repairs as 
well as new items were made in this craft.

We know many people will recognize these tools, but what 
particular work did they do in one of our shops at Historic 
Valentown? Most towns and villages had this kind of service. And 
there are still some around today. Give us a hint and we'll give 
some too. - LEVI

Enjoy more conversation about this "What Is It" on our Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/ 
<https://www.facebook.com/157101550971895/photos/a.708518075830237/2574458035902889/?type=3&theater>;

Our February What Is It? was really an old version
of new. Basically the task is still done the same. And you
pretty much are still mopping a floor. But this bucket let
you wring out the mop instead of trying to squeeze the water
out by hand. Lots of fun? Maybe not, but again these
improvements shortened the time needed to do this and do a
better job.We are your down home hometown Historic Valentown

and want to keep it that way. Best to you - Levi

Spring Wonders Part I

Get ready to plow that back 40!

Improvements in farming were happening all through the 19th
century. From walk behind to riding plows it was all
important to getting the work done. Before tractors, a single
horse or a well trained team were essential. Horses took a
combination of line and verbal commands. How many horses were
in a hitch was also important but the usual was two. Horses
could be added or subtracted as needed. Bigger hitches
required more complex line arrangement to get every horse in
coordination. In order to keep the alignment to cut a field,
one horse had to learn to walk in the rut while the other was
on the flat. The machinery was designed for this.

We have a walk behind plow in the Grange room. It sure looks
like a whole lot of work and walking.

http://www.rockislandplowco.com/index_files/sulkyplows.htm*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctn-01Z_NOY

Still going. Will it ever be solved...?

The "mystery rods"
    <https://www.facebook.com/157101550971895/photos/a.708518075830237.1073741826.157101550971895/2096916816990349/?type=3&theater>;