"Whoever does not have the stomach for this fight, let him depart. Give him money to speed his departure, since we do not wish to die in that man's company. Whoever lives past today and comes home safely will rouse himself every year on this day, show his neighbor his scars, and tell embellished stories of all their great feats of battle. These stories he will teach his son and from this day until the end of the world, we shall be remembed. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for whoever has shed his blood with me shall be my brother. And those men afraid to go will think themselves lesser men as they hear of how we fought and died together."

William Shakespeare



08/12/2006
One for the history books
Fire department celebrates 125th anniversary
By PATRICK SULLIVAN

psullivan@record-eagle.com

EASTLAKE — A lumber baron started the fire department in 1881 when the village was booming.

The population in the Manistee County community has since dwindled and lumber mills have closed, but volunteer firefighters keep the department going strong.

"I've been doing a lot of searching on this and from what I can find, we are the oldest volunteer fire department in the state of Michigan," said Steven Bernatche, an amateur historian and a training officer for the Eastlake Fire Department.

Today, the department will celebrate its 125th anniversary with a day of games for children, a potluck dinner and an evening of classic rock from 8 p.m. until midnight.

The history of the fire department has mirrored the history of the Manistee Lake village, which has shrunk from a population of around 3,500 in the late 19th century to around 600 today.

Fifteen state-certified volunteer firefighters work for the department today, and each donates what they would earn for responding to a fire to the department to keep the operation going, Bernatche said.

Bernatche said lumber baron Richard G. Peters started the department and paid for it until the village was incorporated in 1912. Since then, the department has maintained a volunteer force without a millage.

Over the years, the department was funded by what the village's small budget could offer and it was in danger of going bust. In the last two years, the department received a boost from the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, which have given $27,000 through slot machine revenue sharing, Bernatche said.

Assistant Fire Chief Art Breece joined the fire department sometime in the 1950s — he's not sure exactly when — but he said at that time Eastlake was one of two fire departments in Manistee County. The other belonged to Manistee, across the lake.

"Now everybody's got one," said Breece, 78. "Now there are five departments around the lake."