A fireworks display on the evening of Friday, July 31st was planned to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Raft-O-Rama at Clark Lake. As it turns out, last minute liability and insurance issues caused a cancellation of the fireworks. All other Raft-O-Rama activities will proceed as planned.
Early Clark Lake raft. Photo: Ella Sharp
The Raft-O-Rama committee is discussing other dates for a fireworks display at Clark Lake and are addressing the issues that triggered the July 31st cancellation.
The Raft-O-Rama committee is comprised of volunteers who are Clark Lake residents. These volunteers devote countless hours in support of this iconic tradition at Clark Lake. In addition to the parade of rafts itself, there are a number of other activities that have become part of Raft-O-Rama.
Today there are more rafts on Clark Lake than any other watercraft. The idea of freeing a swimming raft from its anchor, cutting a notch in one side of it and bolting an outboard to it happened early here–and those studying the history think Clark Lake could be the place where it happened first. The idea caught on like wildfire as entrepreneurs found a new watercraft category. As companies began manufacturing rafts they became “pontoons boats” everywhere but Clark Lake. Here they are still proudly called “rafts.” As rafts became more and more popular at Clark Lake, the Raft-O-Rama tradition was born. Many Raft-O-Rama creations have graced Clark Lake over the years. You can read about one noted creator, George Svinicki, here. An early supporter was Bowser Eagy. The numbers from his raft were carefully removed and preserved. See a photo below.
