Bauer Valley Maples at 31796 Co Hwy II, Cazenovia, WI 53924
On March 14, 2026 the WMSPA will be holding the official First tree Tapping to declare Maple Month in WI from March 15-April 15 at Bauer Valley Maples in Cazenovia, WI. The event will begin at 8:00 a.m. with coffee and donuts at St. Anthony Parish Center, 32497 County Hwy V Cazenovia, WI 53924. A bus will pick up attendees at the center at 9:00 a.m. to travel to Bauer Valley Maple’s woods for the official tapping which will begin at 10:00 a.m.
At the official tapping ceremony Governor’s Evers Proclamation will be read declaring Maple Month in Wisconsin. The official tapping by the 2025- 2026 WMSPA Maple Marketing intern Allis Teska, the 78th Alice in Dairy Land, Sarah Hagenow and Dean Bauer, co-owner Bauer Valley Maples will follow. After the tapping ceremony busses will reload and travel to Bauer Valley Maple’s Sugarhouse for tours.
After the ceremony and sugarbush tours, the bus will head back to St. Anthony’s Parish Center for a maple themed lunch. The event is open to public and all ages.
Bauer Valley Maples is nestled in the rolling hills of Cazenovia, located in Richland County, WI where a person will find many valleys in the rural landscape, once abundant with dairy farms. Among the numerous hills and valleys, there is one valley that stands out for more than just milking cows. The valley is known as Bauer Valley, hence the name Bauer Valley Maple. The tradition is making 100 % pure maple syrup. The Bauer family has been making this sweet maple treat for five generations.
For the Bauer family, maple syrup production runs deep. In the 1900’s Joe and Genevieve Bauer and other family members including nieces and nephews, who lived next door, helped collect sap and make maple syrup. In those days, they gathered with horses, homemade wooden spigots, tin pans, and metal buckets. They cooked the sap into syrup and finished it on their kitchen stove.
In 1957, when Conrad and Helen Bauer started making maple syrup, they used similar gathering and cooking techniques. They tapped a few trees and sold syrup for a dollar a quart to family and friends. At that time cooking was done in two different shacks in the woods. Later the syrup was made just outside the woods in a tiny cooking shack. This hobby passed down to their 5 sons.
In the 1990’s, their sons continued this hobby, moving their cooking shack from the woods to an old machinery shop across from a farm house on the property. This location continues to serve as their local business, which also began in the early 1990’s. In 2002, the Bauer brothers bought an evaporator to accommodate their increasing production. In 2016 a reverse osmosis system was added to keep up with the sap coming in throughout the nights, so human monitoring was not needed.
Currently the Bauer Valley Maple team taps multiple trees and produces an average of 500 gallons of syrup each year, but is still looking to expand and grow the business. Dean Bauer known to many as “Maple Man” oversees the business and production of syrup, does all of the marketing and selling of products.
Bauer Valley Maples produces blue ribbon syrup and has won many awards.
For more information about the event contact:
- Theresa Baroun, WMSPA Executive Director at (920) 680-9320, or email Theresa Baroun here
- Dean Bauer, Bauer Valley Maples at (608) 547-9649, or email Dean Bauer here.