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It was a gorgeous day for the 44th Annual MFD Up North Picnic held on July 9, 2025 with 124 people in attendance. Brats, chicken, salads and desserts were plentiful. Beer, soda and water along with lots of hugs, handshakes and stories shared. St. Germain Fire Department brought their brand-new ladder truck for out yearly photos. Tom McKale played “Honor the Fallen” on bagpipes, with Ray Brock reading the names of the 22 deceased members and Mike Warzala ringing the bell for each member, and Tom closing with “Amazing Grace”. Leslie Berendt was the winner of the 50/50 raffle held to benefit MPD Officer Kendall Corder, who died in the line of duty. She donated a portion of her winnings to both Officer Corder and the picnic. Scott Klockow and Dennis Clay won the Horseshoe Tournament and Mike Torphy won Closest to the Pin contest. Mike donated back his winnings which was split between Officer Corder and the picnic. A big thank you to Leslie and Mike! A special thank you to the Emergency Response Specialist, owned by Tom Jones and Brian Glassel, for the beer donation and the Milwaukee Firefighters Union Local 215 for their generous monetary donation, which is appreciated by all. Thanks and prayers to all the fallen Military, Fire and Police personnel that have made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us and our great nation. Mike and Linda Ballmann would like to thank everyone in attendance for keeping the tradition alive through their generous donations and all the volunteers that made this picnic a success. Mark your calendars for next year’s picnic, July 8th, 2026. Keep spreading the word! Send your email address to ballmann61@protonmail.com to get all picnic updates.