Treat Yourself at the ‘Maple Mile’ Drive-Thru

April 30, 2020 by Amy Patterson

We’ve had the final snow (knock on wood), we’ve seen the flowers start to bloom, but the one spring rite-of-passage many have missed while sheltering at home due to the novel coronavirus is that first maple stir.

Richard’s Maple Products Owner Fred Ahrens said April 30 he and a handful of vendors will be bringing maple stirs, kettle corn and all of the traditional fair-food favorites to a “Maple Mile” drive-through farmers market event held at Ransom Sage Farm, north of Chardon, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 1-3 and May 8-10.

The two-weekend event is not just a Richard’s thing, Ahrens said, but will feature treats from Sage’s Apples; Peace, Love & Little Doughnuts; Buckeye Chocolates; and Marty & Lynn’s Concessions. Attendees drive a scenic mile-long stretch from the farm entrance on Auburn Road to the exit on state Route 44.

Ahrens said the first weekend went very well, with roughly 600 cars Friday, 1,200 on Saturday and 500 on Sunday. Friday and Sunday drivers faced about a 45 minute wait, he said, while Saturday’s line took two and a half hours to complete.

“But 99.98 percent were tickled to get out and enjoy the weather,” Ahrens said.

The Geauga County Sheriff’s Office is assisting with traffic control and vehicles are spaced according to health district standards. Only one shopper can exit the vehicle at a time, and food can only be taken to-go.

“(Visitors) can take a nice, scenic drive through the woods and see all the new trees Sage’s put in and the berry bushes,” Ahrens said.

However, the Maple Mile event seemed to be put on hold April 30 when Geauga Health Commissioner Tom Quade said it would violate Gov. Mike DeWine’s orders regarding mass gatherings.

“Apologies for confusion on my part, but I was under the mistaken impression that this was one vendor/business,” said Quade, as Geauga Public Health, on a Facebook post announcing the event. “It is fine to have one vendor being innovative and resourceful in generating revenue safely. However, this event, as described with multiple vendors/businesses, is not permitted at this time.”

In a phone interview Thursday, Quade said he called the state to help find a way forward for vendors, but no help was forthcoming. He eventually reached someone who told him the event could go forward if it could be classified as a farmers market — one of the few essential businesses DeWine’s order has left open.

“I wasn’t even thinking about the farmers market approach,” Quade said. “We’re getting bombarded with stuff and (getting) no guidance from the state.”

Ahrens said the event moved to the Ransom Sage Farm because they are already registered to host farmers markets. He also said he understood why there was a misunderstanding with GPH.

“They are understaffed and overworked,” Ahrens said. “They’re running seven days a week … They’re getting so many calls, you have to leave voicemails and emails.”

The health district is in a tough spot, only getting notice of changes in coronavirus-response policies at the same time as the public does during DeWine’s daily press briefings, he said.

This year’s Geauga County Maple Festival, scheduled for April 23-26, was cancelled due to limits on gatherings of more than 50 people put in place to slow the spread of the virus. This year’s festival would have marked the 91st in Geauga County.

“We’d like to keep the (Maple Festival) tradition alive,” Ahrens said. “We’re trying to restore some kind of normalcy.”

Richard’s, celebrating its 110^th anniversary this May, has participated in the Maple Festival for its full 90-year run. Ahrens said the Maple Mile is by no means a duplicate or substitute for the festival.

Some lucky locals scored their festival favorites at a short-lived drive-through event held at Richard’s Water Street location in Chardon April 24 and 25. However, turnout was so much higher than expected, the event had to be cancelled when traffic backed up onto the road.

“The cars were overwhelming,” Ahrens said. “We served 400 cars on Friday, and another 425 by 1 p.m. on Saturday. There was 50 plus cars each direction. They just kept piling in, we just couldn’t handle it.”

The event, intended to last until April 26, was cancelled April 25 at 1:30 p.m., leaving some disappointed fans.

“Came from Lyndhurst and it was closed down,” one Facebook commenter said on a Richard’s Maple post sharing details of the event.

“Came from Mentor and same,” another replied.

Ahrens is already anticipating a big turnout for the first Maple Mile, with 70,000 views of the event on Facebook and 1,100 shares as of Thursday night.

Drivers still waiting in line at 6 p.m. would be let in, he said. He has plenty of syrup and other maple products stocked up and is not worried about selling out.

“I would love to have that problem,” Ahrens said. “I would love to run out of tons of syrup and cotton candy, but we are well prepared.”