BBQ fundraiser to help fund new well for fire department

BEAR LAKE TWP. – The Bear Lake Township Firefighters Association is again providing an appetizing way to say goodbye to the summer season, while also helping the township’s fire department fund an important improvement project.

The local firefighter association will help host the 41st annual Chicken Barbeque at the Bear Lake Township Community Center, located halfway between Grayling and Kalkaska on M-72, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 1.

The cost of the all-you-can-eat chicken dinner is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 10 and younger. Carryout meals are available.

Proceeds from the event will go to assist the Bear Lake Township Fire Department Station No. 8’s goal of constructing a new well adjacent to the community center, where fire chief Mark Laskowski said the station’s trucks will be able to better load with lifesaving water.

According to Laskowski, the fire department currently uses a dry well located near the shoreline of Bear Lake on East Bear Lake Drive.

But, Laskowski added that using the dry well can, at times, be problematic, especially during the winter, and difficult for the department’s larger trucks to access. Also, the department’s use of the well, whether to train or fight fires, means it is drawing hundreds, if not thousands, of gallons of water from the lake.

A new well closer to the station house, which is next door to the community center, won’t be cheap. Laskowski said cost of a well able to pump a minimum of 350 gallons per minute is estimated to cost as much as $24,000.

“It’d be closer to a lot of the homes in the township,” Laskowski said. “It’d be more reliable.

“There are more pros than cons.”

Besides an all-you-can-eat dinner, the annual picnic will also feature raffles, numerous games and activities for the kids, as well as a chance for residents to visit with local firefighters and view some of the station’s equipment.

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