Eli Kuhns plies his labor of love, boiling down sap to produce “some of the best maple syrup to be cultivated on Hoosier soil.” He was a beloved educational and cultural mainstay in the Wa-Nee area before he passed away in 2017. Photo provided.

News Release

WAKARUSA — It’s been a little more than six years since Eli Kuhns passed on.

His was a presence known to many in the Wa-Nee area as a dedicated volunteer of historic preservation causes, a notable craftsman and a prime purveyor of some of the best maple syrup to be cultivated on Hoosier soil.

On March 11, 2017, several members of the Wakarusa Historical Society traveled to Kuhns’ sugar camp at a rolling rural farmstead nestled between Bremen and Nappanee. Kuhns was enthusiastic and excited that day. It had been an exemplary season for sap, he said, and he was anticipating the need to boil more than 6,000 gallons of sap in order to have a good supply at the ready for the Maple Syrup Festival.

Throughout that morning, Kuhns patiently explained the fastidious process through which the clear sap is transformed into liquid maple sweetness. He was a jovial narrator, even a bit mischievous at times.

It was a memorable occasion for everyone and an experience that lingered well after the event. Those who were present took home many samples and syrups that day.

Two weeks later, the Wakarusa Historical Museum hosted its annual “Educational Days” affair, during which local schoolchildren spent a day at the complex, touring the buildings and learning about community history and primitive lifestyles of a bygone era.

Kuhns, of course, was the one to oversee the workings and conduct the demonstrations at the museum’s working sugar camp. Who better to lead such a task, after all. Not only was Kuhns beyond well versed in the role, but the camp itself was created with wood from his family’s grove of trees. Kuhns distributed tiny cups of syrup to the enthralled students and their delight was evident as they lapped up every last drop.

At the conclusion of Friday’s tours, on March 24, 2017, the museum volunteers said goodbye to Kuhns and thanked him for his integral role in presenting another successful run of “Educational Days.”

The following day, March 25, phones were ringing and word was resonating through the Wakarusa community that Eli Kuhns had died. It was a difficult thing to hear and just as hard to believe, as he had been joking, laughing and chatting with folks only hours before.

While the loss of Kuhns marked a conclusion of sorts, it was by no means the end of his teachings and influence.

Today, those same woods he tended to so carefully and passionately are now under the management of Kuhns’s niece and her husband, Joe, and Amy Schwartz.

Within a labyrinth of maple trees stretching skyward as far as the eyes can see, the family has become wonderful stewards of Kuhns’s expertise. Several varieties of the family’s maple products will be available for purchase during the Wakarusa Maple Syrup Festival. It’s a chance to truly own a small piece of the legacy he lived and loved.