The 4-H Club’s Lawn Tractor Pull is one of the favourite annual events at the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival.
This year the action gets underway at 11:30 on Sunday, at the corner of Albert St. near River St.
The lawn tractors are modified by the 4-H members themselves, and designed to pull weighted sleds. The SMSF event will be a demonstration only, but it’s good practice for the 4-H kids who will be entering competitions later in the year.
This attraction is lots of fun for visitors to watch, and even more fun for the competitors!
Sunday April 3 – 11:00 am
Pizza Eating Contest sponsored by Two Brothers Pizza
$5 entry fee. 20 contestants maximum.
In front of the Two Brothers Pizza.
The winner receives a ribbon and a year’s worth of bragging rights.
Rules:
There will be a separate category for kids
Contestants must not touch PIZZA until the start signal
Must consume all slices to be counted
5 contestants at a time will be given slices of pizza
First to finish their slices wins that round
Visible signs of sickness will result in disqualification
The first round winners then will have a final round to pick the winner.
Entry Fee: $5:00 per person
All Contestants Enter at their OWN RISK
Registration for this event no later than Saturday at 11:00 in front of Two Brothers Pizza to receive final instructions.
We look forward to seeing you and GOOD LUCK TO ALL!
2018 Photos
Our first annual Pizza Eating Contest winners, Quinn (Kids Division) and Chad (Adults Division)! 🍕🥇Great job to all of our participants today! A special thank you goes out to our sponsor, Two Brothers Pizza.
This men’s “fraternity” is a group of residents who are over 21 years of age and believe in “a supreme being.” The group holds regular meetings and provides help in the Sunderland community when requested. The Sunderland Masons have been involved in the Maple Syrup Festival for 24 years. In fact, the late Brother Cliff Foulds was one of the founding members. Every year, the Masons cook sausage and pancakes during the Festival. Each breakfast consists of two large pancakes, three sausages, maple syrup from Harlane Farms, and a beverage. There are child-size portions available as well, and diners can opt for extra syrup and drinks at an additional charge.
Over the years, Lodge members have been involved in the MasoniChip Program – CHIP ( child help identify program – hosted in the basement of the Lodge during the Festival for a couple of years), which works for seniors as well; the Sunderland Music Festival (donate toward a trophy); Durham Police – donated to a Digital speed limit board (information)coming to town a few years ago; a bursary to a graduating student at Brock High School (who contributed the most to the community); donated toward the Skateboard Park at the Sunderland Arena; assisted with the Lindsay Armoury Bouncy Castle Event; sponsored Local (Sunderland) kids hockey team for a few years; school Healthy Snack Program (donated money for some years); and delivered Meals on Wheels for some time. This vibrant organization continues to enhance the quality of life for all Sunderland residents.
Take the Quiz: The Sunderland & District Historical Society is running a contest providing you with an opportunity to show your knowledge of the village’s history. Anytime between March 1st and May 22nd, try our “Village History Quiz”. Prizes of $50, $30 & $20 will be awarded to the three entrants registering the highest scores. To access and complete the quiz go to https://forms.gle/1mzdxeDZE8oo5qs49
The contest is open to everyone – children through seniors. Just one entry per person! Ties will be resolved by lottery.
Winners will be announced on Canada Day.
Our Society offers several resources to help you to learn more about the history of our village.
A visit to our website at www.sunmus.ca offers archives of articles and resources about our history. You might take our virtual tour (go to: https://youtu.be/VGdxOCo3nzA) of the village that offers considerable information about Sunderland’s businesses and homes. For those who prefer physical activity, you can follow our guided walking tour. QR codes have been posted at several locations around the village’s downtown. Geographic coordinates that will help you locate these QR postings are provided in the chart below. Using your phone (data plan required), you can read the codes to access brief histories of each location.
Welcome to the new age in Petting Zoos, where the world’s animals come together in an interactive and educational environment. The young and the young at heart will enjoy petting, feeding & learning about the animals that most have only read about or seen on TV.
Watch the children’s faces light up as they ride a live pony for the first time. Don’t forget your camera as you will want to keep this proud moment for all to see.
The Tiger Paw Exotics petting zoo and pony rides are located beside the arena. While the petting zoo is free, pony rides are $5 per ride.
Centre of town at High Noon Brock Rugby has decided this year to have bath tub races so Clean up your Act and join in the fun. Make that bath tub real pretty, dress up with a wild imagination and win BEST DRESSED
2025 marks the 28th year that Harlaine Maple Products has welcomed visitors to its sugar shack as part of the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival. Hundreds of people have visited their farm on Concession 1 south of Sunderland to see how an old-fashioned product is made using the latest in modern technology.
Douglas and Gloria Harder purchased the farm in 1954 from Vince Beaton (sons Jack and Jim) who had previously boiled sap at this maple bush, since 1933. Douglas started boiling at his parents maple bush when he was in his early teens, and continued on after purchasing the property. At age 87, Douglas passed away in 2004.
Paul and his Dad tapped around 500 to 600 taps in the 1970’s, all with buckets. In 1984, they put in the first pipeline with approximately 150 taps. The next year, the whole bush was on pipeline. They always had a used evaporator, approximately, 4×8, and boiled in the bush with no hydro until 1991, when a new building was built near the house. Now there is water and hydro for late night boiling. The building includes an evaporation room, a store, a kitchen and a small bottling room. Once this building was erected, we were able to expand and now have approximately 2,500 taps.
Old Fashion boiling – Photo by Harriet Drake
In 2011, we finally purchased a new Lapierre Force 5 evaporator. It’s all stainless steel and very efficient. We still fire it with wood, and it can process approximately 250 gallons of sap an hour. On a good year, with many cold nights and warm sunny days, we can make approximately 1700 liters of maple syrup. We also make maple butter and maple sugar candy, for sale along with the popular maple syrup. During the festival years, we have seen over 4,000 people come out to the bush to watch the syrup being made. We have had people involved for the last 18 years of the festival, hosting bush tours, demonstrating maple syrup production, boiling sap in a large kettle as the pioneers did, and showing how the native people boiled sap using a hollowed out log and hot stones from the fire.
Harlaine Maple Products store is open during the festival, plus we have a booth on the main street of Sunderland. In 2012, we hosted the first tapping for the Kawartha Haliburton Maple Syrup Association. We are also members of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association.
Harlaine Maple Products have toured the world and we are proud to be able to produce pure maple syrup: A Canadian tradition. As for recipes, we always enjoy fresh maple syrup on Old Fashioned Johnny Cake, maple syrup pie, maple butter tarts and maple apple crisp. Maple Syrup is also excellent on fruit and with carrots, squash and turnip.
REMINDER: Get your bus tickets for a tour of Harlaine Maple Products at Sunderland Public School during the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival!
Making Maple Candy at Harlaine
Maple syrup season is in full swing here at Harlaine Farms. Here is the process of how we make maple candy. Starting with bowling down the syrup, then running it through a machine to create the candy texture. The moulds are filled, cooled and then ready for snacking. All of this is done hands on at our family farm in Sunderland.
Sunderland Branch Public Library
41 Albert Street (Sunderland Public School)
Sunderland, ON
705-357-3109
Over twelve years ago, the Friends of the Sunderland Library began a series of fundraising initiatives to help support the local Sunderland Library Branch. Our earliest endeavors included activities such as raffles at the Fall Fair and garage sales on long weekends but ultimately the Book Sale was seen as our greatest success. That sale has now become our main fund raising activity. During the Maple Syrup Festival each year, the FOSLs hold a book sale at the library site on Saturday and Sunday. We have incredible support from a small group and we are very fortunate to have the assistance of local authors and individuals who are active in the book business. Community members also are a major source of books we sell in support of the library. All funds collected, by donation only, are used to support local library activities. Those include both youth and adult programmes , visiting authors, DVDs/ e-Books, receipt machines, magazine subscriptions, and books purchased from local independent book stores. Our most ambitious purchases to date have been the public Wifi system, book shelves, Dungeons & Dragons resources, and musical instruments. Recently, we provided almost half of the funds for a 3D printer.
