Somerville maple syrup in maple leaf bottles were on sale at last year's, as well as at this year’s Maple Syrup Brunch Fundraiser at the Independent.

By Cathleen Twardzik

The aroma of numerous tasty dishes, along with the succulent scent of maple syrup, wafted through the air at a recent brunch fundraiser, which was held to support the Somerville Maple Syrup Project.

The third annual Maple Syrup Brunch Fundraiser was held on December 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Independent in Union Square. 20 percent of the proceeds from attendees will support that collaborative community-based environmental, education project.

Tai Dinnan, Gardens Coordinator of Groundwork Somerville, organized the brunch.  “Three years ago, when I started, I did my first Maple Syrup Project. Before I came in, the volunteers and coordinators of the project were putting on their own brunch, so they were making their own pancakes and selling them to people,” she said.

The Independent was selected because, “Some of our staff worked [there] in the past, as waitresses. They suggested that the management at The Independent might be open to the idea of doing a fundraiser for us. We were able to do advertising for them that they make a really good brunch,” said Dinnan.

The menu featured maple-inspired offerings, such as house made maple bacon doughnuts, maple sausage Belgian waffles, maple pancake breakfast wraps with scrambled eggs and bacon, French toast with honey crisp apple butter and two maple-inspired cocktails.

In preparation for the 2012 syurping season, Groundwork Somerville asked for help to design a new shirt. All of the entries were due by November 27, and the winners were announced at brunch. Additional details are available at www.groundworksomerville.org.

Since 2009, Groundwork Somerville has run the Maple Syrup Project. It is a “community-based non-profit, and our main mission is to empower residents to improve the community health and environmental health of Somerville,” said Dinnan.

“40 gallons of sap makes about one gallon of syrup. There’s no other Somerville maple syrup in the world. We are the only ones that make it,” she said.

When the time is right, “We tap trees in Somerville and then we collect the sap once the temperatures go above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. Sap has to be collected every day, or it will spoil. Last year, we made a little bit more than four gallons of syrup.”

Maple trees in Somerville are tapped in February, and the collected sap is stored for a public boil-down at the Somerville Community Growing Center.  In 2012, that event will occur on March 3.

Throughout the season, Groundwork Somerville staff and community volunteers teach a four-week arts and science curriculum to second graders in Somerville Public schools.

The syrup which is produced is given as thank-you gifts to key partners, and it is sold in small maple leaf-shaped jars at the Union Square Farmer’s Market at the Grown in Somerville booth and at Sherman Market. Additionally, it was available for sale at brunch.

Each year, the non-profit runs the School Gardens Program. For the entire school year, Groundwork Somerville runs after school garden clubs for students in kindergarten to fifth grade. “In the summer, we also run programming through Somerville camps,” said Dinnan.

“This year, we started an after-school club for middle schoolers.  In the summer, we have an internship program for middle schoolers called the Garden Youth Crew,” she said.

The oldies music that filled the restaurant set a comfortable tone for brunch, as well as allowing patrons to engage in lively conversation while they devoured their scrumptious brunch choices. Service was extremely professional, and servers were very cognizant of customer’s meal needs.

An eclectic blend of attendees characterized the occasion, and the darkly-stained wood coordinated well with the tables and chairs, as well as with different-sized booths.

The most unique feature of the restaurant was the lighting decor, featuring  square lamps with green rectangular shapes that framed the greater portion of the perimeter of the beige, diagonally-arranged fixtures, and it truly added to the cozy ambiance of The Independent.

Pancakes were among the delicious brunch offerings. The round flaky circles of goodness were absolutely delectable.  Powdered sugar was sprinkled atop three large pancakes, and then maple syrup rounded out the brunch classic. The mouth-watering maple syrup from New England was sweet and extra special.

To discover Groundwork Somerville, or if you would like to become involved in the Maple Syrup Project, call (617) 628-9988, visit www.GroundworkSomerville.org or e-mail tai@groundworksomerville.org.

To find out about The Community Growing Center, visit http://www.thegrowingcenter.org/.