McLennans to Host 2nd Annual Pancake Breakfast March 8th
Be aware, if you are traveling M-52 just north of the village on Saturday, Mike and Doni McLennan are kicking off the spring landscaping season with a pancake breakfast. From 9 AM to 2PM, the smell of pancakes and maple syrup will fill the air near McLennans as a slight haze of smoke and steam drift from the “Sugar Shack”. This is the second year for the pancake breakfast. After serving 225 guests at the inaugural event last year, the McLennans are preparing for 400 this year. But don’t let the number of people keep you away, they have put a lot of thought and energy into streamlining the process so that everything will run smoothly.
Mike McLennan is excited about raising the awareness of maple syrup in Manchester. That is why they became a part of the Big 400 Maple Festival, a celebration of maple syruping in southern Michigan. Last year, the McLennans had people stop by well into the afternoon who had heard about the pancake breakfast and McLennan’s Maple syrup through the Big 400 event and another regional event, “The Taste of the Irish Hills”, which will be happening again this year on the same weekend.
Mike loves to get kids interested and involved in making maple syrup. Every spring he hires “Sap Collectors” and for many this is a first job. Not only do they learn the responsibilities of having a job and showing up on time prepared for a tough day's work, but they learn the skill of sap collecting and the process of making maple syrup. Part of a sap collectors job is learning how to pump the collected sap into the “sugar shack” and filtering out all the bugs and twigs. Mike also sees it as a way for families to spend time together and start a tradition. If making maple syrup is something you are interested in Mike would be happy to tell what is involved and how to get started.
The upcoming breakfast includes pancakes and cocoa or coffee ($3/ kids and $5/adults). Sausage will be available for an extra $1. In addition to the pancake breakfast, there will be free tours of the “Sugar Shack”, students from the Cultural Arts String Program will be performing throughout the day, and there will be drawings for a variety of prizes and gifts every half hour from 9-2. Bottled syrup, maple candy, “Sugar on Snow”, and maple syrup kits will also be available for purchase.
If you can’t make it to the breakfast on Saturday you can give McLennan’s a call to arrange your own tour.
McLennan Gardens is located at 10950 M-52, Manchester, Michigan 48158. If you have questions you can contact them at (734) 428-7005 or visit their website http://www.mclennangardens.com
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