Each spring, the Intervale Pancake House on Flanders Rd. in Henniker becomes more than a restaurant as it brews gallons of fresh, local maple syrup.
The Pancake House has been a local breakfast place in Henniker since 1988 and has been owned by the Chef Patrick Connor for decades. The maple syrup that is used is homemade by Connor right at the breakfast joint. This season of tree tapping got Connor and his business over 200 gallons of syrup.
“We’re looking for 250 gallons. And that’s 14 boils,” Connor said.
To get the syrup, you must tap a certain number of trees- and Connor had many trees to tap.
“We do around 1000, so if you have 1000 taps, you should be able to make 250 gallons of maple syrup,” Connor said.
This year has not been a good season for tapping due to the weather.
“In the springtime, which is generally February, the days are set to get a little warmer and thaws during the day. So, we’ll tap the trees in February, and if it’s 25 degrees at night and above freezing during the day, the sap will run from the tree. If it stays cold and doesn’t get above freezing, obviously it won’t run,” Connor said.
Connor has been making his own maple syrup since he was 12 and he will be turning 62 this year.
“I grew up on a dairy farm down the street, and I tapped trees when I was just a kid,” Connor said.
Connor got into this business from working on his dad’s dairy farm as a kid.
“I was working for my dad on a dairy farm, and I was making maple syrup, and we put our sign out here that said Intervale farm maple syrup with an arrow pointing down to the dairy farm. And it started from there,” Connor said.
Intervale Pancake House has been up for sale for two years due to Connor not having time for his personal life but as of now it is still open for business.
