Gold Discoveredin Lanark County!

Gold Discoveredin Lanark County! - theHumm March 2020

By Jill Carty

When you live a peaceful and tranquil life amongst the natural beauty and maple trees that capture the essence of the Lanark County countryside, the seasons serenade you with the renewal, growth, maturity and mortality that defines the circle of life.

When Spring graciously makes its appearance and awakens the local inhabitants — especially the plants, animals and trees — it is the undeniable sights, sounds and scents that hint at longer and warmer days ahead.

In Lanark County, the onset of warmer days coaxes the flow of one of Mother Nature’s most extraordinary gifts. In a matter of weeks, the sap that is collected from the thousands of tapped maple trees is masterfully boiled and transformed into the liquid gold that gives Lanark County its identity as the “Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario”.

With generations of family-owned sugar bushes dotting the landscape, countless memories have been made by parents and their little ones visiting their favourite sugar shack, year after year. Any child growing up in Lanark County who has been witness to pure maple syrup rolling down a golden stack of buttermilk pancakes will no doubt say that maple is their favourite sweet treat!

The first weekend in April is Maple Weekend in Ontario mapleweekend.ca . This is the time when the historic village of Pakenham shakes off the winter blues, celebrates the running of the sap, and is host to the Pakenham Maple Run Tour on April 4 and 5 mapleruntour.com .

Riding the coattails of Spring, the Maple Run Tour is as vibrant as the season. It brings together the works of seasoned artists, artisans and craftspeople whose shared spirit of self-expression is perfectly blended and showcased within the walls of unique shops, heritage buildings and working studios, as well as a historic general store, one-room schoolhouse, serene retreat house, public library, craft brewery and cider house.

You can feel Pakenham and the surrounding countryside buzzing as residents and adventurous visitors explore the local shops and artist tour stops. Will it be the friendly conversations with crafters and shopkeepers, an artist’s perspective fuelling the fire of the creative process, or tasty fare from the artisan food visionaries and master beverage producers that you will find most unique and refreshing?

Whether building upon your personal collection, selecting the perfect gift or livening up your pantry, travelling the Tour route is pure nourishment for the soul. As your day winds down, remember that the local shops are brimming with locally produced maple syrup and maple products. There has never been a better time to celebrate Maple Weekend by bringing home Mother Nature’s finest gifts of the season — Lanark County liquid gold!

The Pakenham Maple Run Tour and the village of Pakenham look forward to seeing you on April 4 and April 5, from 10am until 5pm. Follow the tour on Facebook and Instagram @mapleruntour or visit mapleruntour.com .

The Magical Imagination of Mária Moldován - theHumm March 2020

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

The mere mention of Transylvania anywhere in the Anglosphere immediately conjures up the occult adventures of Dracula. Having never met anyone from Transylvania before, your intrepid arts reporter was both mesmerized and intimidated by my utter lack of knowledge of the background of this month’s featured artist from Arnprior.

Mária Moldován’s astonishing art is as unfamiliar as her background — and just as fascinating. This accomplished and multi-talented artist weaves he......

Gold Discoveredin Lanark County! - theHumm March 2020