Wayne Slattery, born and raised in West Minot, has owned the store for 37 years now. It sits on the corner where West Minot Road turns into Woodman Hill Road. Wayne’s father, Bill, used to own the store; he and his brother would work in the woods during the day while their wives ran the store. In the afternoon, they’d take over until closing time. Bill said it was different back then. “We didn’t make pizza and sandwiches, just sold a few groceries.”

Longtime neighbors might remember when the Slatterys sold boots at the Trading Post. Rows and rows of them, hanging from the low tin ceilings.

In a nod to consolidation, the footwear marched on and the Village Trading Post expanded its “food ware” line. The business not only sells pizzas, calzones and a roster of hot and cold sandwiches, but also hot meals, salads and dinners you can heat up when you get home. Breakfast? It’s got that too. Plus a big beverage cooler, and a meat counter where you can get fresh-cut meat and Wayne’s homemade ground sausage. Then there’s the “cubbyhole,” filled with canned goods and other groceries. And don’t forget the maple syrup and maple butter. Locals have been known to say “if it’s not at the Trading Post, you don’t need it.”

And while some might argue that you really don’t need fresh-daily batches of all kinds of old-fashioned doughnuts, pastries and cookies (including the popular date-filled ones from an old cookbook belonging to Wayne’s grandmother), you can find them neatly arranged and ready for purchase. The oven goes on at 5 a.m. and it runs all day long churning out traditional and experimental baked goods. Good luck making it home without taking a bite out of the current rage, a chewy maple cookie.

The Village Trading Post continues to thrive through the changing times, sometimes by addition. Like the one right next door to the family business: the West Minot Sugar House. Joni and Wayne got into the maple sugar business in 2000 after an acquaintance talked Wayne into buying a used evaporator. “We knew nothing about it,” Joni said, “but we decided to try it.”

They had a few maple trees on their property, and when their good friend Jim Mavor heard they’d bought the evaporator, he helped them start sugaring in the garage next to the store. Their experiment was successful and they built a proper sugar house for their evaporator.

Thanks to that effort and Mother Nature, in just under two weeks this little corner will be “the sweetest place in town” for Maine Maple Weekend.

Wayne’s dad, Bill, acknowledged that “This year’s not sensible,” referring to the balmy days. According to Joni’s calendar, they had their first boil on Feb. 21 and have had enough warm days and freezing nights since then to coax lots more sap out of the maples and down to the sugar house evaporator for this year’s delicious vintage of syrup.

For folks in West Minot, the maple festivities officially began Saturday night with the annual “Everything Maple Baked Bean Supper” at the West Minot Grange, organized by Joni and Wayne. Regrets if you missed it, but don’t despair. Work is already underway here in preparation for Maine Maple Sunday in two weeks. Because this year’s event coincides with Easter, the sugar house will be open on Saturday and Sunday, March 26 and 27. The Grange will also hold its pancake breakfast on both weekend days this year, from 7 to 11 a.m. The all-you-can-eat tradition includes fresh pancakes, homemade sausage patties, slab bacon and plenty of pure maple syrup from the West Minot Sugar House. After breakfast, around 8 a.m., you’re invited to saunter across the street for tours of the sugar house with complimentary syrup samples. There will be live music, horse-drawn wagon rides and even a visit from the Easter Bunny.

The Slatterys keep things hopping in West Minot; Joni said she stays organized by “having lots of help” and “thinking seasonally.” And even though it’s currently “everything maple” in West Minot, Joni is also unpacking the flower and vegetable seeds delivered to Slattery’s Farm and Maple Supply Company, which is located just a few miles up Woodman Hill Road from the trading post and the sugar house.

In 2006 Wayne bought 22 acres of former dairy farm land from his father. He planted a few crops and set up a picnic table and a canopy for Joni to sell the resulting produce.

In 2009, Wayne and Joni opened their latest reinvention, Slattery’s Farm and Maple Supply Company. “The (company) store is kind of an accumulation of a lot of dreams,” Joni said. In this location, they were able to consolidate many of the projects and the products that were previously being sold out of the crowded Trading Post and garage next to the Sugar House. The boots moved up to the supply company, as did the wood stoves, the maple sugaring equipment and the hardware.

Joni spends most of her time running the supply company. In addition to maple equipment, wood stoves and a variety of things for the good life, there’s a canning kitchen where Joni preserves the pickles, relishes, jams and jellies she makes from what is grown at the farm. “You name it, we grow it,” Joni said, with a laugh. “Except kale. Wayne and his father are old farmers and they won’t grow kale.” She also makes pies by chance or to order.

But this time of year, everyone’s mad about maple. Ninety-five percent of the store’s customers are looking for the tools of the sweet trade. Small producers and maple hobbyists alike find their way up the winding country road for buckets, lids, taps and tubing, among other things. Many of them started out by simply tapping a few trees with an idea that they’re going to boil the sap down in their kitchen.

“That’s really kind of crazy,” Joni said. “A turkey cooker is a better idea.”

Asked if she had any advice for maple hobbyists, she laughed and said, “Start saving your money for an evaporator.”

For the Slattery family, everything from boots to evaporators to cookie-cutters to maple syrup has been part of their multi-generational business plan. It’s part of what makes West Minot “home sweet home” to them and many others.

Julie-Ann Baumer lives, cooks and writes from her home in Lisbon Falls. Read her blog www.julieannbaumer.com or follow her on twitter @aunttomato.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1 cup white sugar

1 cup solid Crisco shortening

1 cup molasses

1 cup whole milk

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 cups flour

Additional sugar for sprinkling

In a mixing bowl combine the cup sugar, Crisco, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon.

Mix well.

Add molasses, milk and egg.

Mix well again.

Slowly add the flour, mixing in a little at a time.

Put the cookie dough in the refrigerator to chill for an hour

Roll out dough until it is about 1/2-inch thick (too thin and the cookies will come out too hard).

Cut the cookie dough with your favorite cookie cutter and place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Sprinkle sugar on top of cookies before baking.

Leave an inch of space between cookies.

Cook the cookies for 10-12 minutes.

Maple cornbread

From Joni Slattery: “The maple recipe below is one I got while Wayne and I were in New Brunswick on vacation. We were at a small diner having breakfast and we noticed quite a few people buying something off the front counter that was wrapped up. When we checked out I noticed that it was labeled “Maple Cornbread” . . . We bought one. Well, not too far up the road I decided I just had to try it (even though I was full). We had to turn around to get the recipe!”

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups cornmeal

1 cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole milk

1 egg

1 cup liquid cooking oil

Molasses for drizzling on top

In your mixing bowl put the two flours, cornmeal, baking soda and salt, and mix well.

Add maple syrup, milk, egg and cooking oil.

Pour into a 9-by-13-inch greased cake pan and drizzle a little bit of molasses on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.