New York State Maple Queen Makayla Fowler, right, met with St. Lawrence County maple producers in preparation for the upcoming Maple Weekends. From left,  Michael Kinney, Debra Kinney, Jeff Jenness, Jim Woodrow, Don Finen, Margaret Finen, Jim Finen and Fowler.

Maple Weekends in New York are set for March 21 and 22 and March 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and many St. Lawrence County maplers will participate.

These are the 20th annual maple weekends in New York, where maple producers open up their sugar houses to the public and give people a chance to see how much work goes into making maple products from the fresh sap. Visitors may sample the goods, and buy some to take home.

In addition to syrup, a variety of “value added” products, such as maple ice cream, maple candy, maple walnuts, and maple popcorn, will be offered.

Pancake breakfasts are frequently scheduled for Maple Weekend, too.

St. Lawrence County maple producers (http://www.slcmaple.com/) like the Finens in Norwood and Cooperative Extension in Canton will be welcoming people to witness maple syrup being made in traditional and more advanced ways.

For more information about Maple Weekend, a list of participating producers and sugarhouses is available at www.mapleweekend.com.