The Blue Water Offshore Racing Association has announced additional sponsors and a key partnership for the St. Clair powerboat races this year.
A partnership has formed with the St. Clair Chamber of Commerce, which stepped in to manage the vendors in Race Village and is collaborating with the St. Clair Riverview Plaza to plan the event’s live entertainment.
“I think it’s a great combination and great synergy for the community,” said race control and race secretary/treasurer Bob Currier.
One of St. Clair’s premier annual events, the powerboat races, this year titled St. Clair River Classic Presented by Magna, is from Friday, July 30, to Sunday, Aug. 1.
St. Clair Chamber of Commerce President Bryan Ulatowski said the band schedule for the event includes:
Friday
- Paul & Oates : 6 to 9 p.m.
- The Gobies : 9 p.m. to midnight
Saturday
- Branden Pavlov: noon to 2 p.m.
- Grove Riders: 2 to 4 p.m.
- Ryan Beaudry: 4 to 6 p.m.
- Meldrum Brothers Band: 6 to 8:30 p.m.
- Los Gringos: 9 p.m. to midnight
Sunday
“We are extremely excited to be part of this year’s event and help to create a more open and welcoming atmosphere for the community and race fans,” Ulatowski said.
Currier said normally the event’s entertainment and vendors would be part of Funfest Events’ Riverfest, but the company announced it would be canceling Riverfest due to the COVID-19 pandemic in April.
He thinks the races will look similar to past years but have a different feel.
Bands won’t be playing on a barge, but in the center courtyard of the plaza. The biggest difference is the city’s open container ordinance, which will allow people to have open beverages in the event’s footprint so there won’t be as much construction fencing as past events, he said.
He said they hope to continue partnering with the chamber for future events and hopes the open container ordinance can continue, believing it will create a more open and welcoming environment for the event.
“We’re really looking forward to the new feel and new look we’re going to be presenting to the community,” he said.
Along with title sponsor Magna, additional race sponsors this year include:
- Raymond Cranes
- Cargill Salt
- Biewer Lumber
- Towbook
- Waste Management
- DTE Foundation
- Anderson, Ekstein & Westrick
- Voyageur Restaurant
- Foster Oil
- Sunrise Convenience Stores
- Murphy Inn
- Rivers Bend Marina
- Sunsation Powerboats
- War Water Brewery
- LaCroix’s Riverside Pub
- Drifters Restaurant & Lounge
- Pepper Joe’s Restaurant
- Westhaven Builders
- City of St. Clair
- Coughlin Jewelers
- Murray Underground Systems
- Thorpe Printing Services
Contact Bryce Airgood at (810) 989-6202 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.
