Hello ,

The month of March is known as the "Maple Moon" by many of the north-eastern woodland tribes of Canada and
the United States.  It is the time of year when warm days and cold nights make
the sap flow in maple trees. 

If you enjoy real maple syrup on your pancakes as I do, you can thank Native North Americans, who were the first people to discover that the sweet sap, when tapped from the trees and boiled down for many hours, made a delicious treat.

Several legends have been passed down regarding how the sap was first discovered.  Most of them acknowledge the sap was a gift from the Great Creator to save the people from starvation during a time when food supplies were depleted and wild game was scarce.

The Natives shared their tree tapping and sap boiling skills with some of the earliest white settlers, saving them too from starvation during a time when when their food supplies were depleted and wild game was scarce.

This month, let's thank God for maple syrup, which today is a treat, but hundreds of years ago was a gift that helped preserve Native and non-Native civilizations in North America!

In Christ,

Rich Avery
Director