The Edwardsburg Fire Department will be the sight of an open house Saturday. (Leader photo/RACHEL BREDEN)

The Edwardsburg Fire Department, in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and the Uptown Improvement Association, will host an open house Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Kid’s games, a live band, vintage cars, and food will be available for the public to enjoy. Visitors can also see fire engines, rescue vehicles and equipment, and a Med Flight helicopter.

The event will feature booths that were canceled due to rain at the Memorial Day Festival.

“This year the Memorial Day Festival got rained out so the Edwardsburg Area Chamber of Commerce wanted to do something and invite the people who had planned to have booths at the Memorial Day event to participate,” said Dawn Bolock, president of the Edwardsburg Area Chamber of Commerce.

Bolock and the Chamber joined forces with Dick Beopple, who is a long time member of the fire department, and his wife JoAnn to organize the event.

“We had participated in fundraisers together in past years such as When Santa Comes to Town and the Edwardsburg 100th Birthday.”

Kevin Stack, a volunteer with the Fire Department, said the firehouse is much more than just a building to house equipment.

“The firefighters have taken great pride in our station, enough to treat it as our second home,” Stack said. “We will gladly give up a couple hours on a Saturday or Sunday morning to make sure the station is maintained, clean, and presentable any time.”

Stack said the firehouse has helped the department get involved with the community.

“Every year we have an open house at the Fire Department to invite the community in to see and get to know the firefighters on a more positive note rather than at an emergency,” Stack said. “We wanted to also show the community different agencies that we work with in emergency situations and to look at the trucks, equipment, and station. We do not want the community to only see us when they dial 911 for an emergency, but rather see us out in the community giving back and representing this community with pride, honor, and respect.”

Stack said, “With this being the first year of doing this, we are not quite sure how it is going to go but either way, we are going to have fun.”

The Edwardsburg Lions Club will be offering free snow cones for the children. There will also be hot dogs, popcorn and food from Captain’s Pizzeria and PizzaWerks.

There will be a live band as well as cars on display, helicopters and a combat course. The Ontwa Township-Edwardsburg Police, Edwardsburg Ambulance and SMCAS Ambulance on hand.