Abner Swartzentruber

West Virginians have historically admired the colorful yellow sugar maple tree and, accordingly, made it our state tree.

It has lit up our hills in autumn and now we find its springtime secret of bearing a sap that syrup producers can gather and heat to create a mouth-watering, money-making, topping for pancakes, ice cream, or other confectionaries that knock-the-socks off sweet-lovers.

Randolph County residents will proudly celebrate with the West Virginia Sugar Maple Syrup Producers Association (WVSMSPA) the Mountain State Maple Days 2023 on Saturday, March 18, by inviting guests to their many Sugar Shacks located throughout our hillsides where a close examination can be made of the industry’s processes and items can be bought for consumption. Please review participants and get travel directions by consulting www.wvmspa.org.

Spruce Knob Maple, located near Spruce Knob Lake and a few miles from Whitmer, is considered the largest maple syrup operation in West Virginia, while tapping 17,000 trees and producing three-to-four thousand gallons of bulk syrup annually.

In an interview with owner Abner Swartzentruber and his wife, Miriam, while they were huddled in their kitchen preparing lunch, it was related that his childhood dream was to someday be the owner of a maple sugar operation in Maine.

Miriam Swartzentruber

Their fortune was to find each other and establish roots in Oakland, Maryland, where they developed a 300-acre, 80-cow dairy farm and raised nine children. It was not until 2013 that they met a Franklin businessman and were able to lease his mountain maple forest for syrup and sugar production.

With assistance from the entire Swartzentruber family every late winter into early spring, Abner declared, “All hands have to be on deck.” The warming sun causes the sap to run through designated tubing connected to the Shack, where a massive cook stove makes one gallon of syrup per 70 gallons of sap.

This operation’s team furnishes syrup retailers throughout the East, sending 80% of their last year’s supply to New Hampshire. Remaining quantities were placed in Spruce Knob Syrup containers or sold throughout this region.

After having a plate of hot cakes from my stove-top grill last Sunday morning and dousing these with their syrup, I can attest to a wonderful outcome and flavor I will never forget.

Miriam explained that they offer a number of flavors besides the Pure Maple variety, including Blueberry, Cinnamon, Amaretto, Coffee, Hot Chili Pepper, Ginger, Lavender and Bourbon Barrel-Aged.

Spruce Knob Maple products.

Abner noted that challenges never cease in this business. He mentioned weather changes and said that it meant “everything” to their ability to be successful.

“It makes you, or breaks you, because it has to be warm enough for the sap to run,” he said.

The cold, snowy morning my husband and I visited caused us to drive on ice to reach their Shack. It was a productive time for them because of the successful interview, but no syrup could be made.

A Buckhannon family dropped by the operation to buy a gallon of syrup. The children were bright-eyed and took note of this couple’s hospitality. Along with me, I am sure they observed that this was a family of faith.

Miriam had mentioned their Mennonite Church affiliation when I asked a question about it. I could tell the many challenges they had encountered in their lives called for a deep belief in God.

As we prepared to depart in the early afternoon, I asked her how long they wanted to be producers. She said with a hopeful voice, “As long as we can.”

In my mind and heart, I wished for her the best as I realized they had come so far in a lifetime full of many demanding tasks. They were a family who took hold of opportunities and courageously discovered how to overcome any difficulty. They are people we can be proud to share our priceless resources with and encourage to remain with us. Their love and determination is a testimony to their faith. From them, I learned a lot.

A decision to visit them for this Maple Day celebration will offer an encounter to always be remembered. I am sure it will be one of the sweetest of trips one could ever plan to make.