The Caledonian Record Took Notice!
Cary & Main Maple Owners Honor “Maple King” Legacy With Sweet New Ventures
DANVILLE — The “Maple King” made St. Johnsbury “The Maple Capital of the World” and now his memory, as well as his sugaring operation, are being resurrected by a local businessman.
Nestled within 35-plus acres of maple trees, off a windy dirt road in North Danville, stands what used to be George Cary’s sugarhouse. Cary’s influence on Vermont’s maple industry has been and still is admired by many.
That includes the new property owners, and founders of Cary & Main Maple, David and Anita Roth.
“Its going to be a maple museum that celebrates the history of maple,” David Roth said in regard to his plans for Cary’s former property which Roth purchased earlier this year. “And celebrating the people — that to me, that’s my real vision — a place that celebrates not only the way it was done but the people and why maple was such an important part of Vermont history.”
Roth, along with sugar-maker Justin Adams, gave Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbitts a tour of the property Wednesday afternoon. Walking through trails, outlined and overcast with a vibrant blend of fall foliage and sugaring lines, Roth showed the still intact cabin that Cary stayed in during sugaring season as well as the actual sugarhouse that he used.
He also told about how the land was used by Cary in the late 1800s. How he operated the business, and how he lived.
During the tour, Tebbitts asked Roth to tell him about Cary. Roth said Cary was an entrepreneur who built the “Cary Maple Empire” from scratch.
“Cary really ended up controlling maple sugar, maple syrup, maple candies — he was at one point, the largest provider of everything maple in the world,” Roth said. “The early 1920s, the beginning of the depression, ended his reign, but what he did in the period of time when he was at his best, he created the industry. He created, really, St. Johnsbury as the ‘Maple Capital of the World.’”
“That was the title he gave it and that is the title that once again should be used by everybody.”
The Danville sugarbush featured Wednesday was one of the first that Cary purchased. Roth noted that many of the trees that are there now were just saplings when Cary bought the property over one hundred years ago.
“My goal in doing this, is to really help invigorate that legacy and make it very clear — not only what he started — but I want people to be able to go down to the old sugarhouse and see the way that it was always done.”
As for the cabin, Roth says people will be able to go in there too. He plans to decorate it and show what it truly was like when Cary lived there during the season.
“This is what he used, he boiled in that and it’s still here,” Roth said to Tebbitts pointing down at a piece of equipment inside the cabin. “He actually boiled syrup in that and it’s the same one that was in the documentary about him and in the Maple King book.”
Roth’s plan isn’t just to bring the on-site buildings back to life, he’s also putting a great deal of time and effort into rejuvenating the forest surrounding them back to the maple-producing honey hole that it was once known for.
He says that the trees haven’t been used for sugaring since around 2014 or 2015.
“So they’ve had some time to rest and relax,” he said.
But now, it’s time to once again use the property the way that Cary did and envisioned.
“I want to honor everybody who has been part of this industry and make this something everybody is proud of,” Roth said. “It’s not just a business enterprise.”
The Roths are already well versed in the maple industry, their company, Cary & Main Maple is known for producing hand-crafted and certified kosher maple products, notably their maple créme. The goal is to have the woods on the property ready to go for the upcoming sugaring season. To do so, Roth has sought out the help of Iyvan Doyon who has been getting the lines up to date and ready for the season.
“Iyvan is the real deal,” Roth said.
Doyon explained to Tebbitts what he had been doing to help improve the sugaring operation and what he plans to do further to make it ready. He also explained a handful of closely kept trade secrets that he says can make a big impact come time to boil.
“I have such respect for what George Cary had built and I think that model of land stewardship and the creation of an integrated business is really interesting and that’s what we tried to start with maple créme and we’ll continue here,” Roth said.
The Roths are currently living in the house that Cary built himself in St. Johnsbury. They purchased the Danville property back in March.
“And that same day, we were up here planning,” Roth said.
That plan has progressed into making Cary’s cabin and sugarhouse a one-of-a-kind maple museum for people to visit and interact with while also learning about the process and the history behind it. Something Roth says is long overdue in our local community.
“It has boggled my mind, honestly, that there is nothing like that,” Roth said. “There are some places around that try to have a little board of history but no real center point of maple history. There’s really no robust maple museum in Vermont.”
In regards to why he decided to purchase the property, Roth said the simplest way to put it is that after seeing what the opportunity was it “just made all the sense in the world.”
“It was just this amazing coincidence, we were doing maple créme before, that we had the opportunity to sort of walk in his footsteps.”
“What he did was so important, certainly for St. Johnsbury but generally, so this is an opportunity to hopefully make it very successful.”
Roth has a prolific record in the natural and organic food industries. He is a founder and CEO of the Wakaya Perfection Group and served as an executive for the Fiji Water company. He currently serves as a commissioner for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and is Entrepreneur in Residence at INSEAD Business School in France. In his spare time, he is a professional drummer, a Master Sommelier, magician, husband and father to two girls at St. Johnsbury Academy.
