The Open House event at the South Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department (SGLVFD) Fire Hall is the place to be on May 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Organizers hope to have FireSmart’s mascot, the lovable fox Ember, come to the event. However, that will depend on whether she has to help put out a wildfire.
If she does come to the event, parents and grandparents will want to bring their youngsters to meet Ember. It would be a good photo opportunity.
Pie Sales
There will be a lot to do at this annual event, including purchasing delicious pies at the popular Pie Sale booth. SGLVFD Auxiliary members are providing apple, blueberry, Saskatoon and strawberry, and rhubarb pies for $10 a pie.
Visitors will want to arrive at the Open House when it opens, so they can get their pick of frozen pies.
Hint: bring a cooler bag with an ice pack. Some property owners buy their pies when the doors open; then they go to their homes or cabins to put the delicious pies in a freezer and then they come back to check out all of the other fun things to do.
Visitors should bring their own bags to take their pies home.
Recruitment Table
The South Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department needs more firefighters and there will be a table set up to explain what’s involved in becoming a firefighter - training, camaraderie, community service and benefits.
Chat with Fire Chief Roger Graham and the other officers, and they will answer your questions.
Door Prizes
When people arrive at the Open House, they should go to the Door Prize Table and put their names in to win a door prize, There is no charge to enter your name and there are great prizes.
Raffle Tables
There will be Raffle Tables for a variety of baskets. Folks will want to buy tickets for a chance to win a basket.
Food and drink
People won’t have to worry about being hungry or thirsty because visitors will be offered hotdogs, pop, coffee and water by donation.
Fireworks Table
Check out the spectacular annual fireworks displays put on at South Green Lake and make a donation to this great community event.
Kids’ Table
Youngsters will be entertained at the Kids Table next to the FireSmart tables.
They will be able to colour a FireSmart picture while their parents or grandparents talk to the Local FireSmart Representatives (LFRs). Be sure to ask the LFR near the Kids’ Table for a gift.
LFR Tables
The LFRs are known for having important information and gifts for visitors who come by their booth to learn about making their properties more resilient to wildfires.
LFR Ken Alexander, this column’s author, urges property owners or their family members to drop by the FireSmart tables for important information about making their properties, homes, cabins and outbuildings more wildfire resilient and to sign up for his free help doing a self-assessment on their property and buildings, so they know what they have to do to protect their properties and buildings.
Wildfire Threat
LFR and Assistant Fire Chief Bob Bell will have a brilliant display at his table showing where the wildfires have burned near our community in the past 100 years.
The message is crystal clear: ”It’s not a matter of if we will have a wildfire threaten our community; it is a matter of when it will happen.”
The drought conditions we are experiencing now are dire, and we have to protect our properties and buildings now, so our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy their “time at the lake.”
Sprinklers can
save buildings
SGLVFD trainer Del Westfall and firefighters will have a sprinkler demonstration set up outside of the Fire Hall. People will be able to order sprinklers.
Westfall will explain the value of having a sprinkler set up around your homes or cabins as the last line of defence against a wildfire. Ask him to tell you how the sprinklers heed protect homes during the 2017 Elephant Mountain wildfire that threatened the South Green Lake, North Green Lake and Watch Lake communities, and burned cabins and homes at Pressy Lake.
Summer hours
The 70 Mile Eco Depot is on its summer hours. It is open Saturday through Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
