Free Family Fun Day, celebrity dunk tank and huge fireworks display on tap
By Barb Pert Templeton
What could be more fun than eating pizza, spending time with clowns and jugglers or taking home colorful balloon animals?
How about enjoying all those activities with your kids for free?
Organizers of this year 86th Annual Algonac Lions Club Pickerel Tournament are particularly excited to announce a New Free Family Fun Day at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 6.
The Pickerel Tournament, will run from Wednesday, July 3 thru Sunday, July 7, promising a large carnival midway, watermelon and donut eating contests, the selection of this year’s tournament Queen and court and plenty of great live entertainment in the beverage tent.
Algonac Lion’s Marketing Director Dwayne Hrynyk said the family day will begin following the main parade at noon on Saturday. Free pizza from sponsor Little Caeser’s and visits with characters like Rosco the Clown, plus people on stilts and jugglers will welcome everyone to the Main Stage at Smith’s Field. In addition, Rosco will be creating balloon animals for children and other special guests that appeared along the parade route may stop by to offer visits and photo opportunity with little ones.
The tournament has a packed schedule this year including the annual fishing tournament, big parade and great live entertainment in the beverage tent.
“I just really wanted to have something free for the kids this year,” Hrynyk said. “And we’re hoping a whole bunch of kids show up and we’ll make this part of the tournament every year going forward.”
A few changes in the line-up of some of the favorite tournament standards include moving the annual fireworks display to Friday night (with a rainout date on Saturday) and the Pickerel Tournament Parade will be hosted at noon on Saturday instead of 2 p.m. Sunday.
The fireworks show will be extra spectacular this year lasting nearly 30 minutes, according to Hrynyk.
“We spent like $22,000 on fireworks this year and made it longer so it’s going to be great,” he said.
Sponsors for the 2024 Fireworks Show are JMS Construction, PTM Corporation and Gabrial Marine Barge.
The parade, expected to be the most entertaining one in tournament history, will include 80 units with everything from the Detroit Fire Department Clown Team, Shriners on minibikes, high school bands and more than 30 floats and many area dignitaries and politicians.
This year’s Grand Marshal is longtime Algonac Lion Paul Mangas.
Of course, the annual Adult Fishing Tournament will return Weds. thru Friday with registration at 8 a.m. each morning and prizes awarded each evening at 10:30 p.m. Then on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. registration for the Kids Fishing Tournament will be held with prizes that day awarded at 11 a.m.
The carnival midway will open at 5 p.m. on Wednesday and close at 11 p.m. and then be open from noon until midnight on Thursday and Friday before closing on Saturday, at 6 p.m.
For anyone disappointed that the carnival will be leaving seemingly a day early, Hrynyk said he’s thrilled to say they have lined up a band with a national following for the final night in the beverage tent. Parallel 5th Band is a hugely popular cover band who also provide an amazing light show and will perform, with no cover charge, beginning at 7 p.m.
“I think this is the best band we’ve ever had for the Pickerel Tournament,” Hrynyk said.
Despite fewer “festival” things on Sunday, Hrynyk was thrilled to see several local non-profits step up to welcome visitors to everything from a 5K/Minnow Run at the Waterfront Park to a pancake breakfast in the beverage tent, a car show, boat parade on the river and even some afternoon fun with bingo in the tent.
As the marketing director for the event. Hrynyk has been busy for months working to book acts and make sure the schedule offers something for everyone. He said it certainly takes a massive team effort to make things happen, from the 80 members in the Lions Club to various groups and entities across the area.
“I want to give a huge shoutout to St. Clair County Sheriff Mat King and his department who do an excellent job providing safety and security and also the City of Algonac and their DPW Director Joe Vernier too,” Hrynyk said. “We even have Homeland Security loaning us 12 really good walkie talkies to use for the weekend.”
Getting everything in place for a 2023 crowd that numbered 36,000 in total for the weekend, 18,000 at the fireworks and 5,000 at the parade means it’s important to be organized. As an interesting aside, Hrynyk said he arrived at those attendance total by utilizing Geo Fencing Technology that in simple terms, has the ability to track people’s cellphones. To find out more about the 86th Annual Algonac Lions Club Pickerel Tournament visit their website at algonaclionsclub.com.
Other highlights of the 86th Annual Pickerel Tournament by day
- Wednesday, July 3
The official kickoff of the tournament will be on Wednesday, June 3 when the carnival midway opens at Smith’s Field behind the local Dairy Queen at 5 p.m. and the Children’s Parade signup at that same time at the parking lot at 401 Pointe Tremble Drive. The parade, which usually includes over 100 children, will step off at 5:30 and travel along back roads in the city to conclude at Smith’s Field with prizes awarded at 6 p.m. on the Main Stage there. A donut eating contest, meet the Algonac Pickerel Queen candidates and the festival beer tent are on the schedule too. - Thursday, July 4
The Fourth of July festivities will include a “Celebrity Dunk Tank” at 3 p.m. Honorees like Algonac Mayor Rocky Gillis, Clay Township Supervisor Artie Bryson, candidates up for election this year, local school teachers and other popular people in town will begin taking a seat in the tank at 3 p.m. The poplar event will go for several hours and all proceeds will be donated to the First Lutheran Church of Algonac. At 4 p.m. casting votes for the Pickerel Queen from among five local candidates will begin before concluding at 7 p.m. Each person can pick up a ticket from the Lions Club Booth and make their choice by placing it in the box that has the photo of the Queen of their choice. The 2024 Queen and her court crowning will be at 8 p.m. - Friday, July 5
Along with regularly scheduled events like fishing and the carnival midway the festival beer tent will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight and there will be a cover charge this evening because it’s a very popular venue for watching the annual fireworks display over the river. The fireworks will begin at 10 p.m. - Saturday, July 6
The big events for Saturday are the parade at noon followed by the Free Family Fun Day. A hot dog eating contest will be at 5 p.m. for adults only at the Main Stage near the carnival. Other Main Stage events starting at 6 p.m. will include a drawing to win an ATV, Fishing Tournament Winners plus announcements for the cutest baby and pet winners. The carnival will close at 6 p.m. unless the fireworks are moved to Saturday in which case the midway will stay open until 11 p.m. - Sunday, July 7
The final day of the tournament will begin at 7:30 a.m. with registration for the car show at Waterfront Park which begins at 9 a.m., at 8 a.m. the 5/K Minnow Run will also take place at Waterfront Park. At 9 a.m. the Algonac Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary will host a freewill offering pancake breakfast and then the “Brian Cuthbertson Memorial Antique & Classic Boat Parade” will begin on the St. Clair River at 11 a.m. The day will conclude with Bingo hosted by the Marine City Maritime Ladies in the Beverage Tent from noon to 3 p.m.
