The History Behind
Hedmark's Maple Ridge
Hedmark's Maple Ridge is nearly a century old
family hobby located in the Town of Fence,
Florence County. Fred and Bonnie Hedmark
are the third generation to make maple syrup.
It all started in 1916 when Fred and Stephanie
Hedmark grew weary of the city life in Chicago.
They traded two lakeside apartment buildings
for 160 acres in the Town of Fence, sight
unseen. They moved to the Northwoods with
their toddler son, Edward, and lived in a tent
that summer until the log cabin was built. In
1918 Stephanie moved back to Chicago to give
birth to their second son, Milan. They made
maple syrup for their own consumption and
bartered the rest for other necessities while
raising 5 children.
During World War 2, Milan was stationed in
Chicago where he met Vita. In 1945 they were
married, bought a farm and moved back to
Fence. In 1958 Milan and Vita purchased a
3'x12' King evaporator, put up a modest
building, put out 700 taps and started
producing maple syrup commercially with
their three sons; Bob, Mike (Milan), and Fred.
Through the years they increased the number
of taps to as high as 1600 taps, using buckets
and bags. The unique aspect was Milan always
used a team of horses to gather the sap.
In 1995 Milan urged his youngest son Fred to
try installing tubing on his property close to
the family farm. The property has a very steep
ridge running north-south, making it a perfect
setup for gravity tubing, thus the name
Hedmark's Maple Ridge. In 1996 Fred and
Bonnie installed 500 taps and went into
partnership with Milan. 1996 was the last year
of using the horses for gathering the sap,
because in 1997 they installed another 400+
taps for a total of 900+ taps on tubing. In 1998
Milan turned the operation over to Fred and
Bonnie.
In the fall of 2000, Fred built a new sap house
at 6748 Lunds Road and installed a 4'x18'
evaporator, the official start of the third
generation. For the 2009 season; vacuum was
added to the tubing, increasing production
50% over the gravity system. Currently we are
tapping 1,200 taps, with more taps in the
future.
The History Continues
Today
On March 15, 2006, Hedmark's Maple Ridge had
the honor of hosting Wisconsin's First Tapping
ceremony at their operation. Wisconsin Maple
Queen, Cynthia Voelz, tapped the official first
tree and Alice in Dairyland, Geena Cooper read a
proclamation from Governor Jim Doyle declaring
March 15th to April 15th as Maple Month in the
State of Wisconsin.
In October 2008, Hedmark's Maple Ridge was
named 2008 - 2009 Wisconsin Maple Syrup
Producer of the Year. This is the ultimate honor to
have bestowed on any Wisconsin Maple Syrup
Producer.
In October 2017, Hedmark’s Maple Ridge entered
maple syrup in the North American Maple Syrup
Council’s (NAMSC) maple syrup contest held in
Levis Quebec. There is maple producers from 17
states and provinces entered in this contest
annually. In the amber color/rich flavor class,
Hedmark’s Maple Ridge was awarded 2nd place.
In October 2018, Hedmark’s Maple Ridge entered
syrup in the NAMSC maple syrup contest held in
Concord, New Hampshire. In the very dark
color/strong flavor class, Hedmark’s Maple Ridge
was awarded 3rd place.