GARDEN CITY — The Bear Lake/Garden City area is undergoing changes because of its growing status as a recreation and seasonal home destination.
On KVNU’s For the People program on Tuesday, Garden City mayor Mike Leonhardt said that businesses there suffer the same problems that are seen elsewhere: shortage of workers and a shortage of affordable housing for those workers.
But he understands why people are attracted to the area.
“It’s a beautiful place, as you know. You drop off the top of the hill and just look at that big blue lake, and you think ‘wow, what a special place to be.’ So does everybody else, everybody’s come over and (said) ‘this is an awesome place to be.’
“We’re growing like crazy and lots of people come up and enjoy it,” Leonhardt explained.
He said local businesses have about 60 days each year to make a living. Leonhardt said the summer season generally kicks off Father’s Day weekend in June and goes to Labor Day. But he said it is still generally warm during September and October and the lake is still beautiful.
Upcoming events include the 1st annual Caribbean Cruze Motorcycle Rally around the middle of this month. He said it’s not a huge event like they have in Sturgis, South Dakota every year but it should be a lot of fun.
“A lot of bikers do the fall colors ride, and they’ll hit Logan Canyon and some of those pretty canyons. There’s only two bike rallies (and) this will be the second in the state of Utah, the first one’s in Panguitch, Utah. So, we’re going to start one in Bear Lake and Garden City. September 16th and 17th will be the annual kick-off of that bike rally.”
Leonhardt said they work pretty heavily with the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce and they do a lot of these events, such as Winterfest in January that includes an opportunity to jump in the lake.
You can get more information at bearlake.org.