Tonight nearly 4,000 skiers and volunteers are taking a trek across Chequamegon Bay to raise money to help their community. Alyssa Palmer has the story.

The 17th Annual Book Across the Bay is a 10 kilometer race from Ashland to Washburn across frozen Lake Superior. What started as a fundraiser for the Washburn Public Library and Tri -County Medical Society has expanded into a community grant program. That’s raised nearly $110,000.

Book Across the Bay race organizer Laurence Wiland says this event impacts the community in more ways than one.

“The event was started not seen as a money maker. You know, we have very inexpensive registration fees when you compare us to any other events. And the idea was just to get community participation as high as we could. And the money leftover is sort of the bonus.”

It begins at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. The skiers and snowshoers will race by starlight and the flicker of candles. “There is enough light certainly for you to see your way. And every kilometer marker, it’s a ten kilometer event, we have volunteer groups who often have a bomb fire, so you see the next light that you need to get to.”

Wiland says Book Across the Bay is great for the Chequamegon Bay community. “The community kind of feels ownership for the event, which I think is great. We have hundreds of volunteers and a lot of area businesses and organizations volunteer goods, person hours, money. And I think there is a lot of pride in this community.”

For the first time this year, children ages 12 and younger can participate in the free 2-kilomter “Book It” race Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Registration is available at the Book Across the Bay web site www.batb.org.

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