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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013 06 Gem Lake News mail boy June, 2013 Volume 7, Issue 4 Gem Lake News Special Interest Articles: • Maple Syrup Production • Use that Fire Extinguisher Effectively • City News Page 4 • WaterFest 2013 Upcoming Recycling Dates: June 12 June 26 July 10 July 24 Gretchen Artig-Swomley, Newsletter Editor Our long cold winter did have at least one positive effect. Weather conditions were ideal for a record flow of sap from local maple trees. Making maple syrup can be a fun and productive hobby and is not as hard as you make think! The first step is to identify suitable trees. The most ideal is the Sugar Maple tree, appropriately named because of the high sugar content of its sap. In descending order of sugar content are other ideal trees to tap, such as the Black Maple, the Red Maple and the Silver Maple. Please note that the Box Elder tree (also called a Ash-Leaved Maple), is in the maple family and can produce great quantities of sap. There is a direct connection between the sugar content in the sap and the amount of boiling time required to convert it into syrup. The higher the sugar content, the less boiling time required. Sap usually flows between mid-February and mid- March, depending entirely on weather conditions. Please note, these timing guidelines were meaningless this year! (continued on page 2) Banner Season for Maple Syrup Production th Prevent Disaster: Learn to Use that Fire Extinguisher A fire extinguisher is sort of like an airbag. You will probably never need it, but when you do, you REALLY need it. Therefore, it's a good idea to make sure you know how to use your extinguisher, where to store it and how to know whether it's time to get a new one. First of all, where do you put your extinguishers in your home? Robert Allee, Service Manager for J.N. Johnson Sales and Service, suggests at least a few extinguishers in every home, and more if possible. One on every floor and one in the garage, at minimum. (continued on page 3) Gem Lake News Page 2 of 6 Sap was still flowing in some of this year's trees until the first week of May! Generally speaking, sap flows when temperatures during the day get above freezing and nighttime temperatures get below freezing. In order to tap your trees you will need an assortment of spiles, hooks, buckets and lids. You will also need a drill and a hammer to put the tap into the tree. The height of the tap really doesn't matter too much, so it should be a height that is convenient to you. There are many diagrams on-line that will show you ideal tapping conditions. You drill a hole slightly upward using a 7/16 inch drill bit and then install your spile. Whether you hang the bucket on the tree or place it on the ground, your collection container will need to be covered at all times. You can store your collected sap for up to seven days, as long as you can leave them somewhere that stays 38 degrees or colder. Sap is like milk and will spoil if it isn't kept cold. The reason most hobbyists store their sap outside is the time it takes to boil it all down. When storing the sap outside please make sure you are using food grade containers of some kind that you have thoroughly cleaned and sterilized, for instance with a mixture of 20 parts water to 1 part bleach. Unless you like ants and peeling wallpaper, do yourself a favor and boil down the sap outside. Most people collect as much sap as possible before starting a round of boiling, or evaporating the sap down to syrup. With an ideal set up and a very hot fire, you could evaporate your sap down to syrup in 8 hours. It can also take several days depending upon your set up. Most hobbyists seem to do the major reducing outside until they get the mixture mostly boiled down to the size of a two or three quart pot. You will need to filter the mixture at least once through a white dishcloth or an actual maple syrup filter. If you don't filter at least once, you will end up with syrup that looks like it has sand it in. Banner Year for Maple Syrup (continued from page 1) You can do the final boil of your 2-3 quart mixture inside without damaging your stove too much. However, you will notice that the rolling and happy sort of boil you saw initially starts to look like an angry volcano as you approach the final syrup stage. Be careful at this point, as all your work can be ruined if you let your syrup boil over. The process of making syrup has been compared to watching paint dry. It takes a considerable amount of time. Because of the time spent watching that stupid pan, your mind will tend to drift at the end. This writer ruined a stovetop at this point by allowing the mixture to decorate the countertop. The final boil is temperamental . When the mixture reaches 219 degrees it is ready to bottle. Use a funnel, unless you like ants in your kitchen. Put the syrup into sterilized glass jars or a similar sterilized container. For every forty gallons of sap, you will end up with about one gallon of syrup, but it will be probably the best syrup you have ever tasted. Gem Lake News Page 3 of 6 Learn to Use that Fire Extinguisher (continued from page 1) Ideally, fire extinguishers are in highly visible places on each floor. Wall mounted is best so everyone knows where they are and they don't get damaged when people knock them over. Fire extinguishers are rated for use in various kinds of fires. Type A will deal with common combustibles, such as trash, Type B will deal with gas and flammable liquids, Type C is directed at electrical fires, Type D is aimed at metal fires and Type K is directed at animal fats. Fire extinguishers for residential use are usually rated for use in A, B and C type fires. Check your extinguisher to be sure this is what you have. The label on the extinguisher will tell you what type of fire this can handle. Type D extinguishers are typically used in industrial settings, and Type K are usually used in restaurants. You also need to check to make sure your residential extinguisher has a gauge on it (all recent models do) and that the gauge is showing the needle in the green area. If it isn't in green it either needs to be serviced or thrown away. Many fire extinguishers have expiration dates, due to the nitrogen material inside. The throw away type that you get at big box home improvement stores will last a long time, but are meant to be thrown away when their expiration date is reached. Another option is to get refillable extinguishers that can be serviced after they are used. This is what J.N. Johnson Sales and Service does for residential and commercial customers. What if you have a fire? Fire extinguishers are very effective at putting out fires in their initial stages. It is very important to know when to retreat, when to call 911 (as soon as possible) and how and where you are going to get safely out of the building. "Always use a fire extinguisher with your means of egress behind you," says Allee. "Never store that fire extinguisher in a place where you might have to approach the fire to get at it. That means you don't put it right next to the stove or the fireplace." If you are outside fighting the fire, keep the wind at your back. When using the fire extinguisher, remember P.A.S.S. That stands for: Pull-you have to pull out that metal pin or twistee or the fire extinguisher won't operate. They have the pins in them to keep the chemicals from leaking out when not in use. Aim--aim the extinguisher hose at the base of the fire from a distance of 8-12 feet. Approach the fire as it diminishes and your fire extinguisher begins to run dry. Squeeze--the metal tongs at the top together to dispense the extinguisher chemicals. KEEP THE EXTINGUISHER IN AN UPRIGHT POSITION when using. If you put it on its side the chemical reaction necessary for the stuff to come out may not work. Sweep-make sweeping motions with the hose, back and forth until the fire is out or you have decided to exit the building and stop fighting the fire. Since you have planned ahead, the exit will be behind you. Once the extinguisher is used, even briefly, it must be serviced or thrown away because the pin has been pulled and the chemicals necessary for the reaction will have leaked out. Questions: Call Mike Turnbull, Fire Inspector at the White Bear Fire Department. 651-429-8568. Gem Lake News Page 4 of 6 Celebrate Clean Water at WaterFest 2013 Families from around the Twin Cities are invited to a day of lakeside fun at WaterFest 2013. The event will be held on Saturday June 1, 2013 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Phalen Lake Park in St. Paul. Sponsored by the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, the cities of St. Paul, Landfall, Little Canada, Maplewood, North St. Paul, Roseville and Shoreview, Ramsey County, Barr Engineering and other partners, WaterFest is a celebration of our clean lakes and offers an opportunity for outdoors, hands-on learning about the water quality, wildlife, and special ecological features of our beautiful watershed. Join in for a fun-filled day of free activities such as solar pontoon rides, fishing lessons, geo-caching, sailing demonstrations, rides in a Voyaguer canoe, guided walks, art displays, jump castles, archery, water games and even a Raindrop Mystery Tour. For more information, go to www.rwmwd.org National Night Out This year's National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6. The purpose of this annual event is to promote community crime prevention efforts by getting neighbors to meet each other, form neighborhood watch groups and learn about simple ways they can make their communities safer. The national event started in 1984 as way to promote police-community partnerships. For several years, the City of Gem Lake has sponsored an event at Heritage Hall in the hopes that neighborhood events would begin to blossom. They have. Last year several citizens sponsored their own picnics and parties and asked their neighbors to join in. The need for another event at Heritage Hall has declined and the attendance at last year's National Night Out showed this. The food was great but there were a lot of leftovers. With this in mind, the city council decided to forego a separate event at Heritage Hall. Please think about getting out and meeting your neighbors on August 6. City News Page Ramsey County Traffic Initiative Nets Results The Ramsey County Sheriff's office hosted a High Visibility DWI Saturation initiative on May 10 between 6:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. Nineteen overtime officers and eight reserve officers focused on Interstate 694, making a total of 246 traffic stops. Of these stops, 11 people were taken into custody, six people were arrested for DWI, 27 drivers were cited for Driving After Revocation or Suspension and three people were arrested for outstanding warrants. More High Visibility Traffic Initiatives are planned for this summer. Crime Reports in Gem Lake Fraud occurred at an address on Goose Lake Road on Tuesday, April 30th about 1:30 p.m. Three men in a black extended cab pickup truck offered to spread Class 5 driveway dirt on the resident’s driveway. The men said they had the material left over from another job. The resident thought the men were giving the dirt away. After they spread the material, they asked for payment. She refused to pay. She told deputies she felt the men were scamming the elderly. PODS Car Tires & Wheels on Scheuneman Road was burglarized sometime before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, March 16th. There was forced entry to the front door. The cash register was emptied. Office desk drawers were opened and gone through. A beige Yukon was seen in the area earlier and the license plate noted. The business had been burglarized in December 2012 as well. Gem Lake News Page 5 of 6 New Turkish Restaurant To Open in Gem Lake The popular Turkish restaurant named the Black Sea will open its second branch in Gem Lake in the near future! The restaurant has been a fixture for many years at 737 N. Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. It opened in the year 2000 as a family run business. The small but cozy place serves authentic Turkish food such as falafel, kebabs, hummus and other Mediterranean fare. The Gem Lake restaurant will be located at 1581 E. County Road E, next to Vera Auto Sales. An exact opening date has yet to be determined but it will be soon, probably sometime in June, according to the owner and manager, Tolga Ata. Mr. Ata has run the Snelling Avenue restaurant for four years, which was originally run by his Uncle. Due to the quality of the food, the Black Sea developed a loyal customer base. According to their web-site, Black Sea is the first and only Turkish restaurant in Minnesota, with an array of authentic fare. (They say they have the best spinach pie in town.) Check it out! Bob Uzpen-Mayor Phone: 651-492-5083 City Council Members: Gretchen Artig-Swomley Phone: 651-260-9742 Rick Bosak 651-426-9695 Faith Kuny Phone: 612-718-4316 The following Gem Lake Meetings will be held at Heritage Hall for the next few months: June 18, 2013 City Council Meeting at 7:00 p.m. May 13, 2013 City Council Workshop at 7:00 p.m. Meetings: May and June 2013 Meeting Dates Your Gem Lake City Council The City of Gem Lake PHONE: (651) 747-2790 FAX: (651) 747-2795 City Hall Address: 4200 Otter Lake Road Gem Lake, MN 55110 GENERAL E-MAIL: City@gemlakemn.org Newsletter e-mail: gretchenas@comcast.net Kiki Sonnen: 651-747-2790, or Kiki.Sonnen@CO.RAMSEY. MN.US To report incidents for the Neighborhood Watch program or for information on that program contact Block Captain Chuck Watson 651-653-8319; Charles.Watson@bdk.com We’re on the Web! See us at: www.gemlakemn.org CITY OF GEM LAKE 4200 Otter Lake Road Gem Lake, MN 55110 June 18, 2013 City Council Meeting at 7:00 p.m. May 21, 2013 City Council Meeting at 7:00 p.m. June 4, 2013 Planning Commission Meeting CANCELLED June 10, 2013 City Council Workshop at 7:00 p.m. Jim Lindner Phone: 651-429-7597 For more information on meetings, city ordinances, recent events, permit procedures, etc. please consult the Gem Lake web-site. The address is www.gemlakemn.org Each Gem Lake Newsletter is also posted on the web-site under the news section. Please email your ideas, comments and suggestions. See box at left for detailed contact information.