LATCHFORD – After a year hiatus the ducks will return to the waters of Latchford in 2021.
The Latchford Volunteer Fire Department is bringing back its annual fundraising duck race this summer.
During the event, hundreds of yellow rubber ducks bob their way down the Montreal River from the dam to a net located beyond the Highway 11 Sgt. Aubrey Cosens VC Memorial Bridge.
“We haven’t picked a date yet for it but it will be sometime in August,” said department chief Mike Beaupre in a telephone interview.
“We just have to look and see at our meeting in April. We’ll decide what date we’re going to have (the event) and we’ll get the tickets made up and then we can do that. It’ll be in August, maybe mid-August or to the end of August.”
FIRE HALL EXPANSION
The duck races were held originally in 2019 to raise funds for the expansion of the Latchford Fire Hall.
That project is now well underway, with Beaupre noting funds raised from the event will go toward other areas related to the project.
“We still have some stuff that has to be done for it, for the equipment or other things, too,” he said of the fire hall expansion.
“We’ll see where we’re at with the building when we get around to August, if we have enough money to finish (the expansion) or not.”
Beaupre added that the fire hall expansion work is currently going well as it heads towards a potential completion later this summer.
“All the wiring is done. We’re just waiting for the electrician to put the power to it,” he said.
“Then we’ll have hydro in there. The price of building material went up, we’re waiting to see what the price of drywall will be. So when it comes down, we’ll drywall it up and then get the painting done and we’ll be done.”
Beaupre noted that the department will be able to store its fire trucks in the newly renovated hall when the weather is better in order to give the members “quick access” to the vehicles when they need them for emergency calls.
Jamie Mountain is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with the Temiskaming Speaker. LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
