The three-piece band Renaissance, along with Marionville Citizens Committee President Francois Marion provided the entertainment during the Cabane a Sucre event held on Sun., March 17, 2024.   Tinkess photo

MARIONVILLE – It is spring in eastern Ontario, which to many people means the sap is running, so the maple syrup can’t be far behind.

Nowhere is the love of maple syrup more obvious than in the community of Marionville where each spring they take a moment to recognize the end of winter and get together to celebrate good food, good music, and good friends.

Francois Marion is the president of the Marionville Citizen’s Committee and the organizer of the Cabane a Sucre event, which this year happened to fall on St. Patrick’s Day. “As you can see, it’s another great turnout for the Marionville Sugar Shack event,” said Marion. “Last year, we had over 200 in attendance and by the sounds of it, and by the looks of it, we’re going to have at least 200 again this year.

“Again, this year, excellent music, and excellent food, and we’re not only celebrating the Sugar Shack, but it’s a special day too, since it’s St. Patrick’s Day, so lots of reasons to celebrate in Marionville today.”

For the record, once everything had been calculated, they had over 225 attendees.

According to Marion, the Cabin a Sucre or Sugar Shack has become more than just a local event. “Today, we have a crowd again, from all over the area from Marionville, Ottawa, Orleans, and Pembroke. Most of the people that come here, always come back. The reason is to reminisce, people like to remain as in Marionville. There’s the odd person that likes to have a beer at the same time, but we’ll allow that today. Since it’s St. Patrick’s Day it will be green beer.”

Maple Syrup is a part of the culture of Marionville. According to Marion there are currently six small operations. The weather, unfortunately, has been a factor for them as it has for just about everything else. “Mother Nature has played some pranks on the Sugar Shack operation this year,” said Marion. “It’s kind of a yo yo, it’s gone up. It’s gone down, up and down. Hopefully the weather will resume so that we can have a few more runs, but we’d have to say that it’s been a below than average year so far.”

For now, there is plenty of maple syrup to go around, along with pancakes, sausages, bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs, beans, maple sugar tarts, and assorted hot and cold drinks. Except for the tarts, which were prepared by Simply Baked in Winchester, everything was prepared by the committee volunteers.

Marionville isn’t a huge community, but their Citizen’s Committee is very active. Before one event is complete, there is talk of what is happening next? “We had a very successful winter carnival not too long ago, and a big event that will soon be coming,” said Marion. “Meet Me on Main Street will be on July 3.”

“It was so great to receive the complimentary feedback from the participants—they enjoyed the food, the music, the ambiance and most importantly the reminiscing with the families and friends.  Another big success for the village of Marionville,” said Marion in recognizing his team of volunteers.

For more information on what is happening in Marionville, you can visit their website at Marionville.org.