Duane Hicks
Ever want to put someone you know behind bars and raise money for a good cause at the same time?
The Fort Frances Voyageur Lions are giving you that chance.
The club will hold its annual “Bail or Jail” fundraiser on Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Fort Frances Curling Club, in conjunction with the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s Business and Community Expo.
But you can’t have such a fundraiser without “felons” and that’s where the public comes in.
“We’ve got nine ‘for sures’ and a couple that backed out, but we are always looking for more,” club member Bill Michl told the Times.
“The more, the merrier. It keeps it hopping at the expo,” he added.
“I’ve got a couple of leads so I’ll track down some more.”
But the Lions are looking to cast their “dragnet” wider, and get tips on “felons” from the public.
“We prefer to be given names so we can go to the people and say, ‘You’re subpoenaed to show up,'” Michl explained.
“Because we are not [the] OPP, we can’t ‘arrest’ people,” he noted.
“We try to check with them ahead of time and see what time works best for them.”
The “accused” will be asked to appear before a judge at the “Bail or Jail” event on April 28 and be put behind bars.
“If they’re a busy person, we’ll say, ‘Can you give us 15 minutes in a cell and call up a few people to get some more bail,'” Michl said.
“If you can’t, we have people that show up, drop off their bail, and go.
“We read a charge and that’s about it,” he noted.
“But they can spend some time in jail,” Michl added. “Some people pay to keep them in, some people pay to get them out.
“It works out pretty good.”
The accused are asked to raise a minimum of $200 to make bail, although the Lion Club is hoping participants bring in as much as they can.
“Bail or Jail” is an important fundraiser for the Voyageur Lions, Michl stressed.
“When it works, it’s right up there with our ‘Polar Plunge’ in being one of our better ones,” he remarked.
To have someone “arrested” or to volunteer to go behind bars for a good cause, phone/text Michl at 276-1334 or e-mail him at bmichl226@gmail.com
