Editor’s note This commentary is by Anson Tebbetts, the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. Henry Marckres retired recently after 33 years with the agency.
January 1984: The King of Pop had the number one song and the King of Maple was just beginning his career at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. Henry Marckres began inspecting products like apples, potatoes and strawberries, and, let’s not forget, eggs.
To become a certified egg grader, the training meant candling 5,000 eggs per day for more than a month. An “egg-strordinary” career was underway.
Henry’s training led him to become the state’s chief of consumer protection. From weights and measures, to gas pumps to grocery scanners, Henry made sure the public got what it paid for.
Henry made sure you got what you paid for when you purchased that jug of pure Vermont maple. For more than three decades, Henry protected pure maple. It meant tasting the sweet stuff, sampling thousands of products over the years.
Those “off flavors” can be found in Henry’s coveted “Maple Library” found in a freezer. When a sugarmaker wondered what went wrong they called Henry. His taste buds have detected paint stripper, mouse poo and even battery acid. His commitment to protecting maple landed him in the hospital three times.
Henry recovered and has judged hundreds of maple contests and graded thousands of gallons, even sampling more than a half of gallon of syrup in one day.
Henry’s career also meant protecting Vermont maple from those passing it off as something else. His investigations led to criminal charges for those mislabeling or adulterating Vermont maple.
It’s been a colorful career full of stakeouts, fairs and festivals, stories and, most of all, the love of maple from this farm kid from Craftsbury. The awards are many, from both sides of the border.
A sweet legacy from Henry Marckres whose love of maple has made a difference and will make a difference for future generations.
