A small group of people gathered at Logs End in Bristol on Sunday to witness a $10,000 donation made on behalf of the business’ president, Robert Black and his father Gordon Black, who founded the business, to the Bristol Fire Department’s rescue boat fundraising campaign.

Logs End Inc. is a wood flooring company that’s been in operation since 1997. The company recovers logs through diving operations on the Ottawa River, its tributaries and small lakes, and distributes its old growth flooring around the world.

Robert said he was excited to be there and was looking forward to making the donation on behalf of his family’s business

“I believe that not only is it our responsibility to give back, but it’s our privilege. When looking for ways to support it doesn’t get much easier than looking towards providing resources to those that volunteer their services to help their neighbors in their worst moment,” said Robert.

Having witnessed the tireless fundraising efforts of the fire department in reaching their goal to purchase the water rescue boat, Robert congratulated them on their accomplishment.

“As a young family with two little ones [Norway Bay] like many others, we enjoy time on our great river. Adding additional resource like this is incredibly comforting,” Robert added.

As he handed the giant cheque over to Bristol Mayor Brent Orr and Fire Chief Kevin Kluke, Robert thanked everyone for coming and said he and his family were happy to contribute to this ongoing effort that will enable the fire department to offer this service to Bristol and other surrounding river communities.

The project to begin fundraising for the rescue boat was conceived in early 2021, according to volunteer Bristol firefighter, Ken Bernard, “We, as a group of the firefighters, decided that it would be a great idea to purchase a rescue boat, so we launched the campaign on July 3 of this year,” said Bernard.

“That was in coordination with our boot drives that we normally have, so we just had a kind of a parade through Norway Bay, in the village of Bristol and at the Pine Lodge area to collect money. That gave us a start of about $5,000,” said Bernard.

“It was our best boot drive ever. I think people were quite pleased with the project, we have received tremendous support. Since then we have accumulated about $15,000, from the community just, you know, people emailing us money and giving us cheques,” Bernard added.

“People are very, very enthusiastic and generous, we have received individual donations from individuals. Right off the top of my head I can remember one who gave $1,000,” said Bernard with excitement.

Bernard, who does garbage collection in Norway Bay, said there was another instance when someone stopped the garbage truck then ran in the house and came out to give him a $100 donation. Then another incident when he was sitting in a restaurant and someone asked if they were still collecting funds for the boat and gave him $50.

There were many other donations from individuals ranging anywhere from $20 to $500, according to Bernard who said, “We’re very, very pleased with the way our campaign has been going.”

With this sizable donation from Logs End, this now brings the fire department’s fundraising campaign to a whopping $25,000.

“Wow, I’m amazed. When it comes to stuff like this, the community really goes out of their way to participate. I have to tell you, this campaign blew my socks off. I just think this is incredible and in less than six months,” said Bernard.

Currently if they need someone, the fire department has to call someone from Mansfield if there’s a water rescue situation, according to Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Kluke.

“And they just started a couple years ago, so before that there was nothing in the Pontiac at all, we had to ‘hopefully’ get in touch with Ontario and they would come if they weren’t too busy,” said Kluke.

“The next closest place was QPF but there’s no boats in the Pontiac; they had to come from either Maniwaki or Gatineau if there was an incident. At that point it becomes a recovery, not a rescue,” said Kluke, “And it makes you feel pretty helpless.” “So once this boat is up and running it is going to cover Bristol, Shawville, Clarendon, Thorne and the Municipality of Pontiac until more boats are available,” said Kluke. “Once it’s put in service, which will be sometime early next year, the MRC will divide up the municipal lines and they will dispatch the boat that’s the closest.”

According to Kluke, the department already has nine firefighters who have successfully completed the training for water rescue this past September.

Initially the fire department’s goal was $30,000 because they figured they could find a used Zodiac (a widely used military-grade inflatable boat typically used in nautical rescue).

“However, upon further investigation, we discovered that we could probably get a newer boat for about the same price. It won’t be a Zodiac brand, but will be a comparable boat made by another company,” Bernard explained.

The fire department discovered a couple of Canadian manufacturers who use similar materials as are used to fabricate Zodiacs, but being cautious because they do not want one made from inferior materials.

“We did find a nice boat up in Lake Huron and had somebody go look at it but there were a couple of issues with it. Since we (here in Bristol) do not know enough about watercraft to know if there were really truly issues that we should be concerned about, we have since decided to follow up with the Ottawa police on a couple of occasions about their watercraft,” Bernard told The Equity.

Then they found another manufacturer just south of Montreal, who has shown an interest in building them a boat So they will probably be going to see them before they place an order, according to Bernard.

“We cleared it with the municipal council to move forward on this. We asked if they would accept it and agree to provide the service, and they were very receptive,” said Kluke who is pleased with the way everything has worked out.

The fire department has learned specialized water rescue techniques already, but will have to do additional training once they purchase the boat. They also anticipate travelling the river with a couple of local gentlemen who know the river very well, and who’ve offered to help firefighters get more familiar with the river and enable them to avoid its most dangerous areas.

“That’s a big help too, it’s great when members of the community can step up. This service was needed at this end of the river,” concluded Kluke.

Robert Black (left) handing a cheque for $10,000 for the rescue boat fundraiser to Bristol Mayor Brent Orr (center) and Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Kluke (right).

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