For Immediate Release, March 25, 2008

Press contact Lion Steve Walker, 607 478-8868, Lion Mike Hulse 607 478- 8157

Andover Maple Festival and Sportsmen's Show

Forget about the groundhog’s shadow. Is it spring six weeks later? Or is that only if he doesn’t see it? No worries. You know it is really Spring, or very soon will be, when the Andover Lions fire up the old sugar shack and invite everyone from far and wide to come to the 36^th Annual Allegany-Steuben Maple Festival and Sportsmen’s Show at Andover Central School April 5 & 6, 2008.

In days gone by many farmers tapped the sugar maple trees to boil down the sap to make delicious maple syrup. Today there are fewer producers. Despite labor saving advances in the process, it is still a tremendous amount of work. Typically 40 gallons of sap are needed to produce a single gallon of syrup. When the Andover Lions Club first began their Maple Festival in 1972, the maple-lined streets of the Village of Andover were seen as a maple bush that could be used to demonstrate the process to the public. The trees are on the streets near the school are tapped with traditional collection buckets and boiled down at the sugar shack that the Lions operate on the grounds of the Blessed Sacrament Church on Elm Street. 2008 has been an excellent year for maple syrup, both in quality and quantity. Visitors are welcome to stop by for a look, a chat, a smell and free taste during the festival.

If this gets you mouth watering for something more substantial, a full pancake breakfast is being served 7 AM to 3 PM on Saturday and Sunday at the school cafeteria. Sausage and eggs with buckwheat pancakes topped with real, locally produced maple syrup will be prepared by the Rod and Gun Club. Maple products by local producers and buckwheat pancake flour will be on sale at the Maple Room, along with many other food vendors for lunch, snacks and dinner.

For the 9^th year, the Sportsman Show and Antler Round Up will be held in the gymnasium during the Festival. The Antler Roundup is an exhibit of many of the most impressive antlers and deer mounts harvested in this area. There will be exhibits and vendors of hunting and fishing equipment and the free scoring of your big buck by the NY State Big Buck Club for successful hunters who bring their mounts in between 10 AM and 2 PM Saturday. There are cash prizes for the highest scores. 

The Maple Festival boasts live entertainment on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning there is a free kiddy tractor pull, with pedal tractors provided. Expert outdoorsman Kyle Weinans will give a demonstration of bird and game calling at 1 PM in the auditorium. On Sunday, at noon, the ever-popular Quigg Hollow Band will entertain with old time country classics.

There are many vendors of crafts, home furnishings and gardening equipment as well as more than 40 food vendors.  Admission is free. Parking is free and there is a free shuttle bus so that festival goers park anywhere in the village.

The Lions Club motto is “We Serve” The Lions are dedicated to community service and especially to preservation of sight, blindness prevention and programs to assist the visually impaired. The Lions offer several free health clinics during the Maple Festival. Dr. Kurt Benham  of Allegany Eye Associates in Wellsville will be conducting free glaucoma screenings. Child eye screening for kids 6 months to 6 years old is offered as well as diabetes and blood pressure screening for adults. Diabetes is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the United States. Early detection can prevent not only the loss of vision, but also other dire health consequences.

This year there is a new event in Andover at the same time as the Maple Festival. The Andover Volunteer Fire Department will be putting on a gun show at the Fire Hall.  Admission is $3. The free parking shuttle bus will service both events.

The Andover Lions Club is a service organization of men and women that meets every second and fourth Thursdays from September to June, for dinner, fellowship and to take direct action towards service to the community. The Andover Lions annually donates over $10,000 to support community projects and vision and health assistance. Additionally they contribute over $7,500 annually to support state, national and international Lions’ charities.