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The Boulder Junction Community Foundation awarded the Boulder Junction Chamber of Commerce a grant in the amount of $3775, helping to reel in the new mascot for the Musky Capital of the World. Discovered at a resort in Elcho, WI last summer and named recently in a contest sponsored by the Chamber, Marty the Musky was repaired and repainted by Tommy Organiscak. Community volunteers helped to create and install the display of the 18’ fiberglass musky outside the Chamber.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation has awarded the North Creek Loop Trail Committee/Town of Boulder Junction a grant in the amount of $5000. The North Creek Loop Trail Project is an expansion of the Heart of Vilas County Paved Bike Trail System, recently designated a National Recreation Trail.
The project, managed by the Town of Boulder Junction, will add approximately 3.3-miles of paved trail, complete the 14-mile North Creek Loop Trail, and connect to the Heart of Vilas County Paved Bike Trail System. The new trail will run from Highway H and K along the east side of Highway H going south to North Creek Road. Trail users will then be able to continue down the newly paved North Creek Road to access the existing trail along Highway M, toward downtown Boulder Junction. It will connect two state forest campgrounds and one private campground, providing a safe way for campers, visitors and residents to come into town by bicycle.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation is proud to act as the fiduciary for the North Creek Loop Trail. Fundraising for Phase 1 of the project is almost complete, and the North Creek Loop Trail Committee will begin fundraising for Phase 2 later this month. To donate, go to https://boulderjunctioncf.networkforgood.com/. Select the “North Creek Loop Trail Fund,” or donations may be mailed to Boulder Junction Community Foundation, Inc. PO Box 675, Boulder Junction, WI 54512.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation has awarded the Boulder Junction Volunteer Fire Department a grant in the amount of $4500. The grant will purchase a Thermal Imaging Camera.
Thermal imaging cameras, colloquially known as TICs, are a type of thermographic camera used in firefighting and rescue applications, allowing firefighters to “see” through darkness and smoke on the fireground. By rendering infrared radiation as visible light, TICs allow firefighters to see areas of heat through smoke, darkness or heat-permeable barriers – spotting fires within walls, detecting overheated electrical wiring, locating hot-spots in fire debris, locating materials involved in spontaneous low-level combustions, etc.
Thermal imaging cameras, which can detect the heat signature of visually-obscured victims, are helpful in aiding search-and-rescue operations in hostile environments, including those involving structure fires, helping expedite life-saving rescue operations. TICs are also useful in some outdoor rescue applications as well.
Pictured standing, from left, are treasurer Katherine Maurer, Jesse Moore, EMS Director Daniell Wahlgren, Capt. Paul Newberg, Krysta Maurer, Assistant Fire Chief Jason Maurer, Secretary Trish Menzia, Olivia Menzia, Lynn Long, Linda Thayer, Linda Chantry, Marshall Reckard and Lt. Josh Thompson. Sitting on Brush One, from left, are Linda Novak, Fire Chief Eric Johnson, and Sarah Moore.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation welcomes a $10,000 donation to their Restricted Endowment Fund, made possible through the recent Public Restroom Project. The Boulder Junction Community Foundation served as the fiduciary for the Public Restroom Project at Sturm Ballfield, part of the Boulder Junction Sports and Recreation Complex. The project includes public restrooms, a bike repair station, two bike racks, and a water fountain with a water bottle filling station. Situated next to the Sturm Ballfield, it also serves the playground, tennis/pickleball courts, basketball courts, skateboard park, as well as the Heart of Vilas County Paved Bike Trail, a recently recognized National Trail System.
The project was completed in the fall and dedicated October 12, 2020. According to the contract, the residual in the account after 100% of the bills were paid was to be a donation to the Boulder Junction Community Foundation’s Restricted Endowment Fund. The Foundation wishes to thank Janet Sturm Oppenheimer, Linda Sturm Jenner, and the Sturm Family & Friends Building Community, of which they are directors, for the fundraising efforts that made this project and donation possible.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation awarded the Boulder Junction Chamber of Commerce a grant in the amount of $750 prior to the start of Music on Main Street on July 22. The grant helps support the funding of artists performing at the weekly summer music series. The series began on July 1 and takes place every Wednesday evening through August 5 from 7pm to 9pm at this year’s alternate location on the grounds of the Boulder Junction Community Center.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation grant as well as individual and business and individual donors help to support this music series which is now in its 13th season.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation has awarded the Boulder Junction Volunteer Fire Department a grant in the amount of $2729.
The grant will purchase two cold water rescue suits and associated equipment. These suits will help the Boulder Junction Volunteer Fire Department begin replacing cold water rescue equipment that has been in service for more than twelve years. “We are extremely grateful to the Boulder Junction Community Foundation for their support of our grant request. Our members trained in cold water rescue are looking forward to the enhanced functionality and user safety that the new suits and equipment will provide,” Eric Johnson, Assistant Fire Chief said.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation has awarded the Boulder Junction Volunteer Fire Department a grant in the amount of $4403.
The grant funded a Groves PPE Extractor/Washer. The Extractor is a specialized washing machine designed specifically to clean the personal protective gear (jacket coat and bunker pants) for firefighters by removing the carcinogenic gasses that accumulate when fighting fires. In fact, cancer is the biggest killer of career and volunteer firefighters, whose risk of developing cancer exceeds that of the general population by 68%. “Using a Groves PPE Extractor/Washer is a firefighter health and wellness initiative,” said Eric Johnson, Assistant Chief of the Boulder Junction Volunteer Fire Department. “It will take care of our firefighters who volunteer to provide emergency fire-rescue-EMS services to the residents of Boulder Junction, and, when called to mutual aid, the residents of surrounding communities,” Johnson said. The Extractor arrived at the end of the year and was installed in February of 2020.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation awarded the Town of Boulder Junction a grant in the amount of $750 to support affordable highspeed broadband internet access throughout the township. The grant will be combined with Town funds, contributions from CenturyLink and grant funds received from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission in order to accomplish a Fiber To The Premises (“FTTP”) project during 2020 in Boulder Junction.
In a special board meeting on November 19, the Boulder Junction Town Board unanimously approved a resolution for the town to pursue the high speed broadband expansion project with the project cost at $7.5 million with a $1.2 million contribution from CenturyLink, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission grant divided into two years with $1.25 million each year, and the town of Boulder Junction’s contribution not to exceed $3.8 million.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation awarded the Boulder Junction Lions Club a grant in the amount of $1500 on November 20. The grant helped with the costs of replacing the roof on the Lions Pavilion this fall. The Boulder Junction Lions Club built the pavilion, which is adjacent to the Community Center, many years ago and gifted it to the Town of Boulder Junction. The Lions maintain the three-season, outdoor, covered pavilion which includes picnic tables, electricity and lighting. Many community residents and visitors use the pavilion for picnics, meetings and events.
The Boulder Junction Community Foundation awarded the Town of Boulder Junction a grant in the amount of $5000 on November 22 to help fund the public restroom project at the Boulder Junction Community Sports and Recreation Area.
The building of the restrooms is a joint project of the Town of Boulder Junction and the Sturm Family Building Community. With this grant, project donations have now reached just over $48,000. The total cost is approximately $65,000. The Boulder Junction Community Foundation is pleased to be the fiduciary for the project.
With town board approval expected in December of this year, building is slated to begin in the spring. The facility will be especially appreciated by the athletes and spectators at Sturm Memorial Ballfield, the children who use the playground (and their parents), and those who attend special events at the park., Since it is near the skateboard park and the Heart of Vilas County Bike Trail, the new facility will serve skaters, bikers, and walkers as well. Plans also include a water bottle filling station. Completion of the project is expected to be in June 2020.
Donations to the project are still being accepted and can be made via the Boulder Junction Community Foundation website through Network for Good: https://boulderjunctioncf.networkforgood.com.