Proulx Family's Maple Syrup Legacy

0:00It's April 23rd, welcome to Hartford News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Bill and Amy Prolek have turned maple syrup making into a family legacy right here in Northeastern Connecticut. Back in 1993, they kicked things off humbly with just 20 sap buckets and a lasagna pan boiling away in their driveway. Fast forward to today, and their river's edge sugarhouse in Ashford taps over 2,000 trees to produce thousands of gallons each season. This started as a backyard experiment has grown into a full-blown operation, drawing on decades of know-how to scale up sustainably. They've refined every step from scouting the best sugar maples to managing vast tubing that works that feeds sap straight to the evaporator. This tradition hits deep in New England hearts, where folks have tapped trees for generations as a ride of late winter. The process embody that spirit, sharing their story through hands-on demos and pure golden syrup that local swear by for pancakes and more. The magics in the process, drill a tap into the trunk, gather the watery sap, then boil

1:04it down 40 times to hit that perfect 66 percent. Sugar concentration, no additives, just nature's sweet reward after a long freeze thaw cycle. Their journey shows how passion plus persistence can sweeten life, one tree at a time, proving Connecticut's got that timeless syrup soul-flowing, strong.