3-27-24 Ledger

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 page 1

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Movie Review

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10, 11 & 14

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Lowell Area

Schools Sports

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New Fire Chief

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OF LOWELL

Expo, continued

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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 vol. 49 issue 27

for over 130 years • today - tomorrow - your lowell area news source http://www.lowellledger.org

Locally-Owned

Celebrating

130 Years of Local News

By Justin Tiemeyer

contributing writer

On Saturday, March

23, 2024, the Lowell Area

Chamber of Commerce

held its 26th annual Lowell

Community Expo, a com-

munity trade show where

attendees have an oppor-

tunity to learn more about

businesses, either located

in Lowell or serving the

greater Lowell populace.

Shannon Kennedy is the

Executive Wirector of the

Lowell Area Chamber of

Commerce. “We want our

guests to walk away feeling

informed about the services

available right here in our

greater Lowell community,”

Kennedy said. “For ven-

dors, Expo is an opportu-

nity to network, showcase a

new product or service, and

thank current customers.”

As an example, Ro-

tary Club of Lowell had a

table set up to raise aware-

ness for Rebuild Creekside

Kingdom, a project wherein

the previous community-

built playground, which has

come into disrepair, will

be replaced by a new com-

munity-built playground.

Volunteer, Scott Young-

love, sold the benefits of

the new plan: it is likely

to last for fifty or more

years, there’s an opportu-

nity to memorialize loved

Community Expo well-attended, in spite of weather

ones by purchasing fence

pickets, and the rocks will

be replaced by engineered

wood pulp. “It’s like the

pulled pork of wood chips,”

Younglove explained.

Returning sponsors and

exhibitors include, Baker

Auto Group, Arrowhead

Golf Course, Herbruck’s,

PFCU, Greenridge Realty,

Adventures by Lori, and

Hulst Jepsen Physical Ther-

apy joined as a new spon-

sor for the first time this

year. Alongside the many

new chamber member and

non-member booths were

a number of Lowell Area

Schools groups. “I’m ex-

cited to see several school

groups like WRWW,

Athlete Huddle, Interact,

and others represented at

Expo,” Kennedy said. “This

is the largest showing of

school groups since 2020.”

Expo is not just for

for-profit businesses either.

Nonprofit groups like Ro-

tary, as mentioned above,

but also Flat River Outreach

Ministries (FROM), Fal-

lasburg Historical Society,

Lowell Youth Sports Foun-

dation, and MI Horse Driv-

ing School attended Expo to

highlight current project and

volunteer needs, summer

camps, and more. The latter

brought a miniature horse,

an absolute character, who

loved scratches on the nose

but became impatient when-

By Justin Tiemeyer

contributing writer

On Saturday, February

17, the Lowell Area Fire

Department took advantage

Fire Chief, Cory Velzen, oversees successful live-fire training

of a rare opportunity to

conduct live-fire exercises

using an acquired structure

within the department’s

jurisdiction. Corey Velzen

is the department’s new

full-time chief. “I advocate

for as much training as

possible,” Chief Velzen

said. In addition to his

duties as Chief Velzen

continues to perform his

role as training division

lead. This is something he

has done for over a decade.

The house in question,

at the corner of 36th Street

and Segwun Avenue, in

Lowell Charter Township,

was donated to Lowell Fire

in 2023, and the department

had originally intended to

hold live-burn exercises

on Saturday, December 9,

before those exercises were

delayed.

The delay was not a

total loss, however. The

department has been using

the house for a number of

exercises that do not require

burning the structure to

the ground, like search

and rescue and hoseline

training, for example, and

they have been doing so

since November.

Opportunities like

this, to practice staging for

a live house fire, using a

local acquired structure, are

notably rare. Chief Velzen

has only participated in

five during his fifteen-year

career.

Typically, live-fire

exercises are conducted

with partner departments,

like Cascade and Caledonia

Fire, and Lowell Fire has

had the opportunity to

partake in a number of

training exercises at a burn

facility in Thornapple.

The February 17

exercise began at 9 am,

and the department started

burning the house between

10 am and 10:30 am. By

noon, the house had been

burnt to its foundation.

While Chief Velzen

spoke about the specific

training the department

runs through, he also noted

that the pure experience

is irreplaceable. Nobody

knows how they will react

to the heat until they have

had an opportunity to be

right in the middle of it.

Nobody knows how the

equipment will react or if

the training will work. “It’s

not something you see every

day,” Chief Velzen said.

Fortunately, those

are no longer worries for

Lowell Fire, as all staff

members have been through

live-fire exercises, either

using acquired structures or

at the simulation facility.

As training division

lead, exercises like these

were Chief Velzen’s bread

and butter, but with the

additional work that comes

with being chief, training

will be passed off to the next

officer in line. “It’s a bit of a

All of these people woke up early on a Saturday morning to come out and support local businesses

and organizations at Lowell Community Expo.

Training, continued

page 2

The house at the corner of 36th Street and

Segwun was donated to the Lowell Fire Department

in 2023.