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Darrin Hagle & The Burning Love Band, which is an Elvis tribute band, will kick off the St. Clair Recreation Department’s free summer concert series on June 16. (Courtesy of City of St. Clair Recreation/Facebook)
The St. Clair Recreation Department is kicking off its summer events with free summer concerts and a Community Safety Town Block Party on June 17.
The recreation department’s free summer concert series will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays at Palmer Park. The first date of the recreation department’s free summer concert series will be on June 16, with Darrin Hagle & The Burning Love Band, which is an Elvis tribute band.
“The Elvis concert seems to be our biggest response,” St. Clair Recreation Department Director Trice Hawkins said. “We get a lot of people that call and inquire about when he is performing.”
Hawkins said Hagle is a local performer from the area, and the recreation department tries to find acts that perform a variety of genres for people to enjoy.
On June 23, The Rick Lieder Band will perform, which Hawkins described as a “yacht rock” concert. There will not be a concert in Palmer Park on June 30.
On July 7, the concert location for the Twistin Tarantulas, a rockabilly group, will be at the Riverview Plaza Park for a combined concert with the Rockin’ in the Plaza series.
“We use the county mobile stage for our performances, but on one of the weekends, the stage was available, but we have our car show the next morning, so we have to remove the stage,” Hawkins said. “So we said, ‘Well, why don’t we just do a combined concert over in the plaza with the chamber of commerce?’”
Detroit Retro Society, a Motown group, will perform July 14, and the Gordon Lightfoot Tribute Band will perform July 21.
Additionally, on July 11, there will be an outdoor showing of the movie “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” at 7:45 p.m., with music by Branden Pavlov and family fun activities at 6 p.m.
Hawkins said the concerts are family friendly. The recreation department usually starts booking acts in January or before and the concerts are funded locally.
“The Community Foundation is one of our big sponsors and then we do send out the mailing list for local donors, so we have businesses, organizations and individuals that also help support the project,” she said.
She said the amount of people who come out to each concert depends on the weather, but the Elvis tribute concert generally sees 200 to 250 people or more.
“The location is always great down at Palmer Park, because we’re along the river,” Hawkins said. “It’s a good venue and a good view because the water’s right there and so we get people that come — we get our regulars, we get new people, we get a lot of people that are just walking the boardwalk and will stop and listen to the music. I think we get people from the harbor, too, that are visiting.”
She said feedback for the performances has all been positive and that people look forward to the series.
For more information, visit stclarrec.com or facebook.com/stclairrec.
Community Safety Town Block Party
The Community Safety Town Block Party on June 17 combines the Safety Town event long hosted in St. Clair with the National Night Out event.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of North 9th and Vine streets in St. Clair. Hawkins said the event utilizes the parking lots of Immanuel Lutheran Church and St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
“The rec department has been offering Safety Town for many, many, many years and then our local St. Clair Police Foundation wanted to promote the National Night Out event, and so we combined the two,” she said. “It is our third annual as a combined event.”
Hawkins estimated the city has been hosting the Safety Town event for over 20 years and said both events promote a fun and safe summer with the police department and other service organizations that the community partners with.
“The draw is that we have all of the emergency and safety vehicles onsite and officers in uniform so families and kids can see the vehicles, talk to officers, so that it just promotes a good partnership when they need those services,” she said. “Usually when you need any public safety services, it may not be the best situation, so this is a positive partnership to establish with the families.”
Attendees can meet and speak with first responders and see their equipment. Features will include the sheriff’s SWAT truck, ambulance services, Coast Guard, Marysville’s fire smoke trailer, Michigan State Police child safety information, local police and firefighters and more.
“Cargill, from St. Clair, sponsors some train rides for the kids and there’s a bounce house that’s going to be there and other activities for the kids and families to do, too,” Hawkins said. “It’s all free and it’s all through the rec department and the St. Clair Police Foundation.”
There will be safety vehicle inspections, East China School District school bus safety tips, an Ascension River District Hospital bike giveaway, photo opportunities with St. Clair Police Department’s patrol car “PeeDee” and more. DJ and announcer Kenny Young will play music and DTE Energy’s Louie the Lightning Bug will also be in attendance.
Additionally, the firefighters of Fire Chief David Westrick’s Warriors and the police of Police Chief Timothy Raker’s Raiders will participate in the third annual tug of war contest, and McLaren Port Huron will host a helmet safety program, where helmets will be available for $5 with proper fitting provided.
Hawkins said organizers have been working on organizing the event throughout the year after the wrap-up meeting from last year’s event.
“We maybe meet in January to square things up and then work just keep everybody updated until the event,” she said.
She said she hopes people gain a positive experience with the community partnerships that provide public safety.
“We do it in June so that we can promote having a fun and safe summer, so if anything we cover here can change someone’s life or make it safe, that’s the most that we can hope for,” she said.
Hawkins also noted that the city’s community outdoor pool will open that day, and there will be free open swimming from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Those interested can meet the lifeguards and get information about swim lessons or a seasonal pool pass.
For more information, visit stclarrec.com or facebook.com/stclairrec.
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