HAMBURG, Wis. (WSAU) - Wisconsin's maple harvest will get a special start at a Merrill area charter school this Saturday.

Maple Grove charter school in the Merrill district will be host to the annual First Tapping Ceremony Saturday afternoon. The event is organized by the school and the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers association. Head Teacher Russell Noland says the tapping was offered because the school is built into a sugarbush. "We've had maple tapping and production in our curriculum for 40 years, so we jumped on board and said absolutely."

The First Tapping is an annual event with a proclamation from the governor, Alice in Dairyland and the Maple Queen. The school will also be hosting a pancake breakfast fundraiser, as well as raffles, and tours of other local sugar bushes. Noland says they want this to be a community event.

The day will start with a pancake breakfast organized by Friends of Maple Grove Inc., taking place from 8am to 12pm at Ed and Sharon’s Banquet Hall. That breakfast is 6 dollars a person. The breakfast will include raffles and a fundraiser for the school itself. The tapping starts at noon at Maple Grove on Highway F in Hamburg.

You can get more information by calling the school at 715-536-7684 or email kelly.trojanowski@maps.k12.wi.us.