MARATHON — The Marathon Fire Department is inviting community for a Halloween fundraising barbecue, sponsored by Barrick Hemlo mine.
Local firefighters will be in attendance to serve up some barbecue along with Halloween safety tips.
Barrick Hemlo donated all of the food for the barbecue.
The event kicks off just in time for dinner and before prime trick-or-treating hours.
“The plan is we start our barbecue at 4’o’clock,” said Fire Chief Scott Trach. “So, as parents get off work, instead of having to worry about cooking and getting their kids ready and everything, they can come down here and get a burger for a small donation and then they can go out and trick-r-treat right after that.”
Trach, who became chief of the Marathon Fire Department in August, said that the Halloween barbecue is something the department has “done in the past.”
He mentioned that although he is “fairly new” to the community, he believes COVID-19 restrictions led to the barbecue being sidelined for a few years — meaning that this is a chance for the fire department to re-engage with the community and have some fun while they’re at it.
“We decided now that we can do things like this, we’re gonna try to bring it back,” said Trach.
“I think, mostly because of COVID, it was hard to get a lot of public education information out to places… so, we’re really trying to get that thing going here again… getting firefighters and myself to the school [for example] — and they have a good library program where we’ve been to the library and brought the firetruck for the kids… we are trying to get education and information out to the public here more because we can now.”
The Halloween barbecue is being held to raise funds for “new public information activities”.
Trach noted that what this means is that funds raised during the event will be invested in “public education.”
Residents are also invited to check out the fire department’s “haunted bay,” which is sure to delight and frighten in equal measure in honour of the Halloween season.
One delight will be a fire truck open for kids to take a look at it and sit in.
Additionally, kids will be given a tour of the station.
“We just had a kindergarten class come in and we give them… things that we buy to promote fire safety,” said Trach. “The barbecue is for donations only, so what we’re going to do is take that money and put it towards buying more things to give the kids when they come visit or we go visit the schools… to promote fire safety.”
Some examples of items handed out to promote fire safety include plastic fire helmets, stickers, reflective arm and leg bands, crayons, and other fun surprises that shouldn't be spoiled here.
In terms of safety tips for kids and parents out trick-or-treating on Halloween night, Trach said “be mindful of traffic, don’t run across the street, look both ways,” and urged people to always be mindful of their surroundings.