SKOWHEGAN — University of Maine Cooperative Extension educator Kathryn Hopkins will be inducted into the North American Maple Syrup Council’s Maple Hall of Fame in May, at the International Maple Museum Centre in Croghan, N.Y. Only one other person from Maine has been selected for membership in the Hall of Fame in the council’s 41-year history.
Hopkins joined UMaine Extension in 1993. Since 1997, she has been an educator in the Somerset County Extension office, responsible for agriculture and natural resources programming in the county and statewide. Hopkins serves as a statewide resource for the Maine maple syrup industry and coordinates Extension’s Renewable Resources Extension Act. She coordinates and presents trainings and workshops, and conducts research on maple syrup sap and syrup production issues.
Hopkins is one of the creators of the IMSI Maple Grading School that has been presented annually since 2004, and has served as director of the International Maple Syrup Institute since 2008.
The North American Maple Syrup Council’s Maple Hall of Fame was founded in 1977 to recognize those who have contributed their time, talent and leadership to the North American maple syrup industry. Two individuals are nominated annually in October by the Maple Hall of Fame Committee and inducted at the International Maple Museum Centre in May in Croghan. Currently, 91 inductees from 13 states and four provinces have been inducted.
