ARUNDEL, Maine — With the Maine maple syrup season off to a bit of a late start across the state there is one young Mainer diving into the business.
Casey Belanger, 22, started up ’207 Tappers’ on his family’s property in Arundel just in the last few months.
"I told myself ‘I want a sugar shack. I want a sugar shack,’" Belanger said. “My father told me when you can do it on your own, you can do it."
So he did. In less than six months, and with help from family and friends, he built a sugar shack from the ground up, bought the equipment and got his state license.
Casey works a day job and started another small business painting parking lots in the summer so he could save up thousands to invest in the passion project.
“It's been a long time coming,” Belanger said.
His dad and uncle first got Casey into tapping as a hobby 10 years ago. It was admittedly short-lived—a lot of work for little reward.
But they have both supported him through the process.
"There's not many kids who would do this kind of work and not get much out of it,” Casey’s dad, Leo, said.
Last year, Maine produced 539,000 gallons—making it the third-largest maple producer in the country behind Vermont and New York.
There are nearly 100 maple sugar operations across the state of Maine tapping over 1.8 million trees, according to the USDA.
So far Belanger and his family have tapped nearly 100 trees.
He already has tap flowing to boil in time for the 36 annual Maine Maple Sunday.
Casey is just hoping it all ‘pours’ out to be a sweet success.
"It's really just a fun time,” he said. “I really enjoy it."
Click here for all the sugar houses participating in Maine Maple Sunday across the state this weekend.