Published: February 24, 2008 09:24 pm            

Parke County festival has successful opening weekend

Despite fire, Williams & Teague still has product

ROCKVILLE — Less than a week after a fire destroyed the main building of the Williams & Teague Sugar Camp in Rockville, the company and their products appeared at the Parke County Maple Syrup Fair.

Williams & Teague had a booth at the fair Saturday and Sunday, and will be there next weekend as well. The fair takes place in the Parke County Fairgrounds 4-H Building.

Irene Wirth, whose mother, Florence Williams is a co-owner of the maple sugar farm, said the company had enjoyed “wonderful sales” during the first weekend of the fair, despite their losses.

Wirth was manning the booth Sunday at the fair. The other co-owner of the farm is John Teague.

Tuesday, a blaze that began around 11:30 a.m. in the camp completely gutted the sugar house of the maple syrup operation.

The cause of the fire is suspected to be electrical in nature, according to Wirth. It destroyed the 1,800 square foot building along with everything in it.

Art Harris, of Greencastle, owner of Harris Sugar Bush, is a friend of the Williams & Teague farm, and when he learned of the fire, he offered to bring his equipment over to help tap their trees.

Wirth said Harris “insisted on coming over and helping collect our sugar water” to be made into syrup.

Florence Williams said during a phone interview Sunday that Harris had already brought a storage tank and a pump to the farm, and once the trees are tapped, he will take the water down to his camp “and process it for us, which is wonderful for us,” she said.

The timing of that will all depend on the weather, Williams said.

“We’re hoping it will run so we can have some more for this next weekend,” she said.

“We’re going to rebuild,” Williams added. “I don’t know how quick, but as soon as the weather breaks we can start cleaning it up.”

Williams said although the fire was devastating for the sugar camp, “You’ve always got hope. You never give up, and the good Lord willing, we’ll do it.”

Another maple sugar farm, Foxworthy’s Sugar Camp, in Marshall, Ind. (east of Turkey Run State Park), also endured a loss from a fire the week leading up to the fair.

Wednesday, a building on the Foxworthy farm, known as the “old schoolhouse” was destroyed in a blaze. The fire started from soot in the fireplace flue, according to Helen Pithoud, who works on the farm and was selling Foxworthy syrup products Sunday.

The old schoolhouse was a wooden schoolhouse built in 1862, according to Pithoud, and it was used for storage and sales of maple syrup and antiques.

Foxworthy maple syrup has been sold in Parke County for at least 50 years, Pithoud said.

Larry D. Myers, president of Parke County Inc., said the Maple Syrup Fair had enjoyed “real good attendance” both Saturday and Sunday.

About 30 vendors had set up booths in the 4-H building and the Industrial building on the fairgrounds, and there was a steady stream of patrons visiting the pancake line, Myers said.

He and his wife, Louise Myers, said they had talked to visitors from the cities of Chicago, Indianapolis and Danville, Ill., among others.

“There’s been a steady crowd since 8 a.m.,” Larry Myers said. He said they couldn’t be certain about how many people had been through.

Debbie and Jim Jones, of Rockville, brought their whole family, including 1-year-old granddaughter Kyler Jones, to the fair Sunday.

Debbie Jones said the fair just sounded like a good idea – “especially when you’re hungry,” she added with a laugh, digging into a plateful of pancakes and sausage.

“Maybe we’ll make it a tradition,” she said.

Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.kelly@tribstar.com.



What to know

• The 45th Annual Park County Maple Syrup Fair continues from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Rockville, one mile north of U.S. 36 on U.S. 41.

• Pancakes will be served all day long. The cost for adults is $5. Children younger than 10 are $3. For more information, visit www.coveredbridges.com.



Also on Display

• A special exhibit this year only is the Smithsonian Institute’s Traveling Exhibit, “Covered Bridges Spanning the American Landscape.” The exhibit is located at the Tourist Information Center, 401 E. Ohio St. (U.S. 36) in Rockville. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily until April 16.

• For more information call (765) 569-5226 or email pci@ticz.com.

        

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