BELDING, Mich. — Without electricity, there’s often no heat, no hot water, and no way to prepare food. So several people still waiting for their power to come back on found comfort at a golf resort in Belding.
Candlestone Golf and Resort on M-91 is making sure people left in the dark have a warm place to stay on Christmas day.
"We've got people from Rockford and Greenville and Belding," resort owner Steve Leach said.
The resort is usually closed on Christmas, however Leach said two of his employees volunteered to help out. So for resort is remaining open for the holiday and offers free lodging.
Leach said, "We're a very busy summertime resort, but when we had the power go out, we had some employees that were out of power as well."
"It just occurred to us that we could help the community," he explained.
Ken Kapcia and his family packed up a few items and drove in from Lowell.
"We live out in the country. We lost power and had trees come down all over the property, mustered through yesterday hoping that things would turn out wonderful. Obviously it's still not back on," Kapcia explained.
Kapcia said Consumers estimates his power will be restored by Saturday night. Bob Drew from Greenville said he heard Candlestone was staying open through Facebook.
"Actually, it's a blessing. Personally, I've gone camping so I would just stay in my house and kind of work through things. But I realized they're working on the power and it might be a day or two," Drew explained.
But instead of camping in, he decided to do what's best for his daughter Jaycee and go out.
Drew said, "When you have someone that's three, it's hard to get them to go camping in their own house."
Plus, the resort is feeding its temporary tenants for free. It’s a Christmas gift everyone staying there didn’t ask for but are grateful they received.
"Merry christmas. Just merry Christmas to all and thanks to the good people out there who have done things like this. If you're reaching out to anybody it's a great gesture and great for the holidays so thank you," the Kapcia's said.
Leach said the line workers powering on area homes also stopped in Thursday evening for a warm meal. Many were from out of state.
