Gary Graham of OSU Extension inducted into Maple Syrup Hall of Fame

Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator Dr. Gary Graham of the Holmes County office of Ohio State University Extension, has been recognized by the International Maple Syrup Hall of Fame for his decades dedicated to maple syrup production in North America.

Graham was inducted into the Maple Syrup Hall of Fame on May 14, in Croghan, New York. The Maple Hall of Fame was established in 1977 by the North American Maple Syrup Council to recognize those who have excelled in research, development, education, leadership and promotion within the North American maple syrup industry.

Graham, also known as 'Dr. Sticky Sweet' enjoyed punning around about the induction, but admits it is a great honor.

“I was totally surprised. I never anticipated anything like this,” Graham said. “To the people that work in the maple syrup industry, this is the pinnacle of awards. They select two people a year, and there are thousands of deserving people who are influential in the maple syrup industry. So when they called me to let me know I was inducted, I asked if they were sure it was me they wanted.”

More: https://maplemuseumcentre.org/post.php?pid=14

To be inducted into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor one involved in the maple syrup industry can obtain. Graham will join five fellow Ohioans previously inducted into the Hall of Fame, including: Ture Johnson of Burton in 1981; Paul Richards, Chardon in 1988; Dr. Randy Heiligmann, Dublin in 2002; Bill Brown, Fredericktown in 2008; and Debbie Richards, Chardon in 2015.

“This is a great honor, and it is kind of neat to get this on my way out of the system,” he said. “They are rewarding me for 22 years of doing educational research, outreach and promotion. That’s been in kind of my role to get more knowledge out there and promote the product wherever I go.”

Graham related that the guy from the Hall of Fame told him that he came across as one of the biggest promoters of maple syrup. He noted that Graham has taught in several states and provinces, and one of the things he is always promoting is the different uses for maple syrup.

"I was taken aback, and really pleasantly surprised," Graham added. "This is really a great honor."

Many friends in the maple world

Through his 38 years as a public servant, he says that working with the maple syrup producers has been the most rewarding.

"I have a lot of friends in the maple world," Graham said. "While there are only 17 states in the U.S. that have big production, along with all the Canadian provinces, I have been to every province and to every state except for Iowa, which isn't a very big production state. But what I've found is my greatest experience is working with the people. In all my public service, working with the maple producers has been the absolute most fun. They're a great group of people.

"It truly is a sweet gig, if you can get it," he said with a laugh.

Graham’s path to the HOF was not very direct. He grew up working on the family farm and the family’s diesel truck repair shop, then, worked for a John Deere dealership and local school district as a bus mechanic.

His love of time being outside in the woods kept calling at him. At the age of 27, Graham stopped turning wrenches and started turning the pages of college books. He graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in secondary education from the University of Akron. He completed his Masters of Science degree from Miami University of Ohio in environmental sciences and resource conservation in 1995, which is when he started working for Ohio State University Extension. Graham finished his Ph.D. in natural resources from The Ohio State University in 2005 and was appointed to The Ohio State faculty in 2007.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: OSU Extension educator Gary Graham named to Maple Syrup Hall of Fame