Davison Township's swimming lake started with one man's fundraising

On a hot afternoon at the edge of Davison Township, kids cannonball off a dock into an 18-acre lake while a splash pad hisses behind a stretch of sand beach. None of it would be here without a man named Bob Callis, who spent his energy raising the money to buy the land — and got his name on the lake when he was gone.

Lake Callis Recreation Complex sits at 1152 North Gale Road, about 40 acres of swimming, beach, and ballfields that the township assembled the slow way: the Board of Trustees, a downtown development fund, and a crowd of volunteers, rather than one big grant. That patched-together origin is why locals talk about it the way you’d talk about a barn raising — a lot of hands made it.

The centerpiece is the swimming lake with its wide beach, changing rooms, and a hundred-by-hundred-foot “Dash ‘n’ Splash” pad for the smaller crowd. There’s a tidy run of amenities around it: six lighted sand volleyball courts rated for real tournament play, a grand pavilion with a stage, a tiki hut with its own little beach, a fishing area, an observation dock over the wetland, and paddleboards to rent. A short trail loops out through the marsh for anyone who wants a quieter minute.

It runs seasonally — roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day — and charges a gate fee, which keeps it a township amenity rather than a regional draw. That’s part of the appeal. On a July evening it fills with Davison families who’ve been coming since they were the ones doing the cannonballs, on a lake that a neighbor talked the town into buying.