By Jackson Frolic | Beacon weather-related (especially snow) reporter

Despite mild weather so far this season, Bass Lake snow removal crews are gearing up for what could be a typical winter.

But thanks to a grant from the Michiana Granting Committee, Bass Lake crews will be wielding brand new used snow removal implements.

Long-range forecasting models, while unreliable, predict periods of precipitation in the form of rain, sleet, snow and the aptly-named “wintry mix” throughout the rest of 2014 and on into 2015, according to climate scientists with Bass Lake University.

Bass Lake town workers say “bring it on.”

“Bring it on,” said Bass Lake town worker Clem Shovelready. “We got these new snow fighting things from some mucky-mucks up to the statehouse. We won’t be caught with our pants down like we done last summer.”

Shovelready said the new tools include a snow shovel and a leaf rake.

The snow-fighting arsenal is the result of a “grant-writing frenzy” following the blizzard of 1999, said grant writer Grant Ryder.

“That blizzard took us by storm,” Ryder said. “We had to borrow shovels from Nearbytown. Never again. It took a while, but we got ’em.”

Training on the snow shovel and leaf rake is expected to be completed by late March.