March 8th, 2011 by Ray Deleo
Did you know that this is a busiest time of year for Maine’s Maple Trees? Even in the worst of winter, Maine has something sweet to offer, as the maple sugaring season gets underway. It all starts in late February when the sap starts flowing through the trees. The trees are tapped, and in a good year, one large forty year old Maple Tree may produce as much as 60 gallons of sap from one tap.
Sap Taps
But it takes 40 quarts of the sap to get one quart of the golden maple syrup that you find beside your pancakes, ice cream or in maple candies. Join Maine’s maple producers each spring as they celebrate Maine Maple Sunday on Sunday March 27- the day when sugar makers around the State open the doors of their sugarhouses for the public to join them in their rites of spring – making maple syrup.
Sap Evaporator
At many of these farms near the Atlantic Birches Inn in Old Orchard Beach Maine you can go into the sugaring shack, watch the sap evaporate, and learn about how it goes from what looks like nothing more than water, to one of the sweetest things made in Maine. Sometimes the syrup is pale gold and delicate, sometimes dark and rich. It all depends on the soil and terrain, the wind and the weather, just like fine wine. But don’t worry, if you can’t make it for Maple Sugar Sunday at one of these farms, you can always visit them the rest of the month of March and early April.
For a full list of participating farms visit Maine Maple Producers or see our map below of nearby Maine Maplc Sugaring Shacks below come see us and we can give you a list with directions to some of the local nearby farms . Your Innkeepers Ray and Heidi Deleo
View Atlantic Birches Inn – Old Orchard Beach – Local Maple Sugaring Shacks in a larger map
January 18th, 2011 by Ray Deleo
Fiske Hotel
A little bit of history on the naming of the Atlantic Birches Inn guestrooms. When we first purchased the Bed and Breakfast in the spring of 2001 all the guestrooms had already been named, but we had no idea where the guestrooms name’s came from. After some researching at the Old Orchard Beach Harmon Museum & Historical Society and local library we found that the room’s names came from Grand Hotels that existed when the Shingle Victorian building was built in 1902 by John Calvin Stevens.
The Great Fire of 1907
Most of these Grand Hotels were destroyed in the Great Old Orchard Beach Fire in 1907.
We then thought that we should let our guests know the history of each the Grand Hotels that the guestrooms were named after.
Room Plaques
We made nameplates for the outside of each guestroom’s door and then had framed plaques made which were placed inside of each guestroom’s door with a antigue postcard picture of the Grand Hotel, its history, location and information. Your innkeepers Ray and Heidi.
January 11th, 2011 by Ray Deleo
Recently I started something I had wanted to do since I purchased the Atlantic Birches Inn Bed and Breakfast building in 2001. Exploring the history of the building in Old Orchard Beach Maine has become fun, fascinating, fulfilling and very time consuming for me these last few weeks. It has provided me insight into some of the building previous uses, previous owners, the neighborhood, the surrounding community and the building’s possible Architect and original owners.
Original Postcard of Building Dating Back to 1907
The building was built in 1902 supposedly by renowned Shingle Victorian Architect John Calvin Stevens. John Calvin Stevens (Oct 8, 1855 – Jan 25, 1940) was an American Architect who worked in two related styles — the Shingle Victorian, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style, which dominated national domestic architecture for the first half of the 20th century. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine. The building was built for the original home owners Mr. Thomas L. Cleaves and Berea S. (Sylvester) Cleaves and family. Mr. and Mrs. Cleaves owned and operated the Cleaves Hotel and Restaurant and Bowling Alley along Old Orchard Street that were destroyed in THE GREAT FIRE AT OLD ORCHARD in 1907.
The buildings features are pretty much the same now as to when it was built in 1902. The building is in the historic overlay of the town and requires approval from the Design Review Committee for any major feature changes. I still have a long way to go to verify the original owners and certify that the building was designed and built by John Calvin Stevens. My next task is to check archived newspapers at the Saco Dyer Librarydating back to 1900 to look for announcements on the planned construction of the building by John Calvin Stevens for the Cleaves Family.
Did you know that this is a busiest time of year for Maine’s Maple Trees? Even in the worst of winter, Maine has something sweet to offer, as the maple sugaring season gets underway. It all starts in late February when the sap starts flowing through the trees. The trees are tapped, and in a good year, one large forty year old Maple Tree may produce as much as 60 gallons of sap from one tap. 
