REACH OUTDOORS- VOLUNTEERS ARE ELECTRIC AT CEDAR LAKE

With the snow melted from camp and a predetermined plan in hand, on March 26th we began the spring upgrade/renovation process down at Cedar Lake. We have an ambitious list of facility upgrades we are hoping to achieve before the summer camp season starts and the work began in earnest last week.
For the 1st work day of the season I was lucky enough to be joined by Gary Moore, Bill Furtaw, and Bob Borchak of the camp facility committee. We also had the skills and expertise of a crew of five electricians from Miller Electric drive from the Grand Rapids area to join us at camp.
The plan for the day was to update the electrical capacity for different areas around camp. Our focus started in two of our cabins in the A-unit section of the property. These cabins Elk and Wolf are sponsored by St. Clair Hunt and Fish Club and Lake Saint Clair Walleye Association. The materials for these upgrades were generously donated by clubs from District 8. The upgrade included new outside lights on each cabin, updated breaker boxes, and the addition of wall outlets to add a couple of fans in each cabin to cool the campers down in the summer. New smoke detectors and new wiring were also installed throughout the cabins.

While one group was working on the interior electrical, we had another group working outside near the lodge. The outside group was tasked with replacing the underground electrical cable that ran from the lodge to the boys and girls latrines. Using a bobcat with a trencher the crew dug the old wire out and laid a new cable in its place. The wire that was removed was some of the original electrical work installed at the camp in 1939. Installing the new wire will not only make it easier for the electricity to flow between buildings it will also increase the safety to the facility. From the boys and girls latrine we then ran underground wire down the hill to the director’s cabin replacing the wiring in my cabin and adding a new breaker box and two more wall outlets.
Having skilled crew members from Miller’s Electric including Rob Miller, Ron Miller, Rex Prather, Rick Kortman, and Larry Hildenbrand we were able to get this work achieved in roughly six hours. Having the right tools for the job in the right hands makes a BIG difference! With these upgrades achieved we also had some time to use the bobcat to add sand to the beach front, and move some large timber to an area where it can be milled and hopefully turned into lumber to make bunk beds down the road.
With a full work day in the books we made some major progress and the many hands of our volunteers were greatly appreciated. Once again I would like to say thank you to the crew from Miller Electric and the facility committee for all of the work they did last week.
There is still much to do to prepare the facility for the campers in the summer, we have a couple roofs to shingle, trees to trim, an archery shed to build, a dock to repair, and a latrine to renovate. The major event of the spring will be the camp clean up weekend. We would love to have you and your fellow club members or friends come out and give us a hand on May 1st and 2nd. We will be working from 9-5 both days and lunch will be provided by MUCC. So come out for a whole day or just a few hours, we will put you to work, fill your stomachs, and you will be part of the effort to get camp ready to go for the 2015 season. You can RSVP to me at smckeon@mucc.org or 517-346-6466.
See you down at Cedar Lake.