Mt. Aukum contractor Scott Gilliland constructs the new Grizzly Flat bulletin board, which was paid for through a donation from the El Dorado Community Foundation. Destroyed in the Caldor Fire, the bulletin board went back up Jan. 5.
Grizzly Flat Fire Safe Council Second Vice Chair David Manske, left, Chairperson Mark Almer, center, and First Vice Chair Ernie Lory stand in front of a completed Grizzly Flat community bulletin board Jan. 5. The bulletin board is ready for residents' use after the previous one burned in the Caldor Fire.
Mt. Aukum contractor Scott Gilliland constructs the new Grizzly Flat bulletin board, which was paid for through a donation from the El Dorado Community Foundation. Destroyed in the Caldor Fire, the bulletin board went back up Jan. 5.
Courtesy photo
Grizzly Flat Fire Safe Council Second Vice Chair David Manske, left, Chairperson Mark Almer, center, and First Vice Chair Ernie Lory stand in front of a completed Grizzly Flat community bulletin board Jan. 5. The bulletin board is ready for residents' use after the previous one burned in the Caldor Fire.
Residents of fire-torn Grizzly Flat often spoke of their community bulletin board that was next to the post office, serving as a conduit for information and a place to visit with neighbors. When it burned in the 2021 Caldor Fire, along with the post office, residents lamented its loss.
The bulletin board and post office have now been rebuilt and became ready for use Jan. 5, with community messages already decorating the board. With plans to build a community center and the post office nearing reopening, it would seem Grizzly Flat is slowly, but surely, starting to look like itself again.
The bulletin board was rebuilt by Mt. Aukum contractor Scott Gilliland with help from Grizzly Flat Fire Safe Council volunteers.
“The post office and the bulletin board have always been a place where the community members have gathered to catch up on what’s going on in the community and each other’s families,” said Mark Almer, Grizzly Flat Fire Safe Council chairperson. “The bulletin board has also served a very important role for the fire safe council in providing wildland fire prevention education to the community.”
Funding for the bulletin board's construction can be attributed to the El Dorado Community Foundation that gifted the Grizzly Flat Fire Safe Council $15,000 after the Caldor Fire, according to Almer. The council ultimately decided to spend the money on the bulletin board.
“We were discussing what the best use of these funds were, and we knew how much the community needed something like this,” Almer said. “We wanted to wait until the post office was near completion, and from there it only took Scott four working days to complete it.”
The previous bulletin board was built in 2017, which replaced a smaller one that had stood since 1991.
The new and improved board will have a map of the community in addition to the fire safe council’s public announcements. It has space for the Grizzly Flat Community Services District, Pioneer Fire Protection District, Leoni Meadows Camp and the church and school to post their materials, according to Almer.
A brass plaque affixed to the bulletin board reads, “This bulletin board is dedicated to the strength and resilience of the Grizzly Flat community and the survivors of the Caldor Fire. Reconstructed by the Grizzly Flat Fire Safe Council, January 2024."
I heard the cost of lumber did go up……Oh, it must’ve been the County building permits……but then there was probably the cost of an environmental report…..Maybe government figured out how to enforce the 15 minute cities?
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Who "gathered" there?.... $15K and built by volunteers? REALLY?
I heard the cost of lumber did go up……Oh, it must’ve been the County building permits……but then there was probably the cost of an environmental report…..Maybe government figured out how to enforce the 15 minute cities?
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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