REMEMBER THIS: Chester Coe's sweet project

From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:

Northerners look forward to this time of year when the winter weather is in the midst of change.

It is warm during the day and cold at night. We live in the heart of areas forested with Maple trees and this brings to mind, pancakes and syrup, maple toffee and maple sugar. We are surrounded by numerous maple syrup operations that can be found in the Algoma Region

In 1946, a young man named Chester Coe bought a large parcel of land on Marshall Drive in Prince Township. However, being the ripe age of 19 posed a problem. The laws at the time deemed that a person had to be 21 years old before making a land purchase.

To remedy the issue, Chester’s father put the property in his name until his son reached the eligible age to own his new purchase. Soon the three brothers, Chester, Elbert and Henry Coe and their families, began developing their maple sugar operation.

The Coe Maple Syrup Operation helped influence the entity known today as the Sugar Shack that is operated by the local Conservation Authority.

When it was purchased, there were a few existing buildings on the property, one of which was a shack roughly 8x12 feet. This would later become the main sugar shack on the property.

There were also boilers, evaporators and a sugaring off stove indicating that perhaps someone else used the property in the same way.

The methods used nearly 70 years ago at the Coe Maple Sugar Bush were labour intensive and the process was one that involved many family members and volunteers. Throughout each maple syrup season, an inevitable sense of community was formed among locals, which built strong connections that continue to this day!

As the development of Maple Syrup production began to become a reality, so did the number of children, adults and seniors who volunteered to help. It was about learning the process, about togetherness and forming bonds with family and friends.

In speaking with some of the children, (who are now seniors) of the three brothers, recollections of their experiences brought about fond memories. Ray Coe, Richard Coe and their sister Colleen (Coe) Stocco recently gathered together, and they certainly were not at a loss for memories to share and laugh about.

They were all just kids at the time, but they had first-hand experience working at the sugar bush on Marshall Drive. So too did Ronald and Earl, their brothers who have since passed, but were also immeasurably involved.

Ray recalls driving to the bush lot with his siblings and his parents Elbert and Dora. Their car was parked a few hundred feet from Second Line up onto Marshall Drive where they parked and unloaded supplies.

At one time, this was a scenic lookout but trees has since grown and blocked the view. Supplies had to be brought into the bush on toboggans while the kids complained most of the way, not to mention that their walk in was an additional three miles back into the bush. In the words of Ray, there was a lot of fun working on the property but sometimes it was often just “plain old hard work”!

The Coe families worked ten of the eighty acres that they owned. Their first chore in the early years of owning the property was to clear out the thick bush, which was all done by hand. The wood harvested from clearing was used to fire the evaporators and the sugaring off stove.

When it came time to tap the trees, this task was done using a brace and bit tool. As time progressed, easier methods were introduced like adapting a chainsaw with a drill.

When the sap started to flow, it had to be collected; this was often done twice per day. Collection of sap pails was more exercise than a day at the gym until the family acquired a bulldozer to pull a long trailer through the bush. The emptying of sap buckets into a 250-gallon tank atop the trailer proved to be hugely helpful.

In April 1975, Chester Coe was quoted in the Sault Star as he spoke about their operation being about a week and a half further behind production than on St. Joe’s Island. He quoted that it was because of colder temperatures, due to the proximity to Lake Superior and the high elevation of their property.

Frank O’Connor, who now owns and operates the Voyageurs’ Lodge and Cookhouse in Batchawana Bay, was one of the local kids in Gros Cap. Frank spoke with great enthusiasm about his memories of the Coe family and the process of tapping trees.

Frank reminisces that it all began the first weekend of the March Break. Since several of the kids lived below the Gros Cap Hill, the trek up the side of the bluff, just across from the Government Dock was the first task, as they tromped through the thick bush until arriving at the top of Marshall Drive.

Each of the boys, usually four of them, had a specific job to do. Keep in mind that this work was hard, but the area kids loved it and they were committed helpers.

When it was time for lunch Frank, Billy, Dennis, and Johnny headed back to the shack. Often the snow was hard enough for them to walk on the crusty top. They would bring their lunches and hang out in the rafters of the shack while syrup bubbled and boiled, and the sweet smell of sugar filled the air. This was their March Break fun.

A team of four young men worked together when tapping. The first person on the job started the tree tapping process. He drilled the hole. Then the next teammate would use bleach water to disinfect and mark the hole and insert a Popsicle stick, the third person hammered in the metal spile and the fourth team member hung the sap pale.

Frank specifically remembers the red sap pails. The boys moved with efficiency from tree to tree.

Talk about getting exercise, the boys and anyone else that took part in the maple syrup endeavour certainly put in a full day, filled with fresh air and more than enough exercise. They would start early in the morning and spend the day tapping until it was dark outside! It was not just one team working in the bush though, as there were quite a few other teams trekking around.

At day’s end, they would trudge back down the dark bush trail to their homes in the Hamlet of Gros Cap. There were also animals in the bush to worry about and a specific time when a black bear was just a little too close for comfort. By the end of the first weekend of the March Break, roughly 1,750 maple trees would have been tapped. Instead of money at the end of the season, the boys were paid in product.

In April 1976, the operation that was located three miles off Highway 550 on the North Gros Cap Road saw 750 people pass through their maple syrup operation.

Often elementary school students and some area church groups attended tours that were demonstrated by Elbert Coe. Most of the time, the tours were organized by the Sault Ste. Marie Conservation Authority who witnessed the wonderful example of the operation of a maple sugar bush and sweet Sugar Shack. The Coe family’s hard work demonstrated the skills and values that a maple sugar operation can yield.

Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provides SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.

Find out more of what the Public Library has to offer at www.ssmpl.ca and look for more Remember This? columns here