News

By Alex Freeman, MCC Communications Specialist

Tree tapping has been a longtime passion for Seth Sutton — it’s how it made its way to Montcalm Community College’s Sidney campus. 

Curious on how he could bring his hobby to work with him every day, Sutton, Department Chair of MCC’s Arts and Humanities, inquired about tapping the various maple trees for sap on campus. After outlining how the proposed project could be implemented into the curriculum for various MCC programs, Sutton was granted permission, and The Sugar Bush was born. 

Implementation and expansion are the themes of this year’s sugaring season after a successful first year in 2024. In its inaugural year, the groundwork was laid for this season, which Sutton referred to as the “Grand Opening.” Last year’s preparation included plenty of planning, research and conversations. 

“We had a ton of conversations with sugar makers, vendors, producers, community members, tribal communities, administration, students and we also spent a lot of time in the woods,” Sutton said. “Our decision last year to start small allowed us some valuable opportunities to fine-tune our operations and to work on our long-term visions for The Sugar Bush as well as our beautiful Montcalm Heritage Village.  

“Overall, our first season was a huge success,” he continued. “With that, we were able to establish some really exciting collaborations with some of our local business partners that will allow our students unique hands-on learning experiences that will enrich their education here at MCC.” 

Much of the first year of The Sugar Bush project also involved Sutton traveling to various conferences and colleges around Michigan to talk about the project, its benefits and how it could be duplicated elsewhere. To help promote The Sugar Bush and its efforts in the 2025 season and beyond, Sutton held a Sugar Seminar on MCC’s Sidney campus on Feb. 26. Students, faculty and a few community members joined as Sutton outlined the upcoming plans for The Sugar Bush, including a good amount of classroom implementation. Of the various programs offered at MCC which could take advantage of The Sugar Bush and its sugar-making project, some sections highlighted by Sutton included environmental sciences, biology, chemistry, business, marketing, arts and humanities, social sciences and agriculture. 

“We’re not just making sugar, we want to do this in a broad curriculum outreach,” Sutton said during his presentation. “The sugar isn’t just the physical act; it’s more of a vehicle.” 

Sutton hopes to expand the educational goals for The Sugar Bush beyond MCC curriculum by incorporating K-12 programming and school visits as well as creating an environment for community involvement and noncredit classes to teach people about the art of sugaring. 

“I would love to make this into a true co-op,” Sutton added. “We’d like to have community buy into this. If they’re tapping their own trees, but they don’t have the facilities to boil down and evaporate sap, they can come here.” 

Other long-term implementation ideas included MCC hosting a maple syrup festival on campus, incorporating the Kenneth J. Lehman Nature Trails on the Sidney campus for more tree tapping opportunities and involving outdoor classrooms. These things will all take time, however, as Sutton pointed out. 

“The longevity of what we’re trying to do is not something we can just hit the fast-forward button on,” he said. 

As far as what people can look forward to soon, Sutton plans to have merchandise and product produced from The Sugar Bush available at the bookstore on MCC’s Sidney campus. 

“The bookstore will be selling our officially licensed Sugar Bush swag,” Sutton said. “Maple syrup, maple sugar, candies, stickers, blankets, T-shirts, stocking caps, coffee mugs, books and more!” 

The maple sugar and syrup will be available toward the end of the sugaring season as it is processed. All proceeds from Sugar Bush merchandise and product sales will go back into The Sugar Bush. 

To help accomplish these goals, Sutton is actively looking for volunteers. Volunteering at The Sugar Bush could involve various responsibilities, including wood cutting and gathering, cleaning, collecting sap buckets, tending to the evaporator, removing syrup from evaporator, finishing the syrup, bottling and labeling. 

“It’s really pretty neat to see how something so simple as making maple syrup has snowballed into some super cool opportunities for our students and community,” Sutton said. “We are really looking forward to seeing what this season will bring and seeing all the smiles and faces of visitors as they walk into the sap house and catch a whiff of the sweet sap boiling.” 

For more information or to volunteer, email Sutton at seth.sutton@montcalm.edu or call 989-328-1008.