Family Night brings fun and celebration to Port Huron during Boat Week

Hundreds of families gathered near the 10th Street Bridge and along McMorran Boulevard Thursday evening to play games, pet goats and have their faces painted.

It was all part of Blue Water Fest's Family Night, a night of Boat Week to host family-friendly activities in the leadup to the Port Huron-to-Mackinac Island Sailboat Race.

The night is sponsored every year by Operation Transformation, bringing together local charities, religious organizations and businesses.

Missy Schlager of Port Huron was present with her son, Justin Schlager, and her nieces, Eva and Quinn Schlager. The family attends every year. Her nieces were especially excited to see the goats at the petting zoo. Missy Schlager said she was looking forward to the drone show the city was hosting, in place of fireworks.

"I'm excited to see the show. It's going to be great to see," Missy Schlager said.

Guests moved from one booth to another, playing games and collecting stamps with the promise that they could collect a prize if they visited every booth set up outside the 10th Street Bridge.

At a booth setup by Hillside Wesleyan Church, kids threw a ball in an attempt to dunk Pastor Nate Nelhof and other church members into a tank of water.

Wyatt and Amelia Swanson both got the chance to dunk their uncle, church member Travis Wolff, into the pool. Both said they had a lot of fun doing so.

Elsewhere Lola Mohamed spun a color wheel set up by Operation Transformation itself, allowing her to collect a prize from a bag of the same color she landed on. She said the games and activities were her favorite part of the event.

Those who collected a stamp from every booth were pointed to the tent set up for Christian radio station 90.7 Hope FM. There they met Hope FM's marketing and digital media director, Justin McBurney, who handed the first 100 guests who collected every stamp a free "Family Night" t-shirt.

"This is one of only 100 of these shirts in existence," McBurney told Linda Lozano, one of the first guests to win the shirt. Lozano said she and her husband have been coming to boat week for years and this was the first time she'd won a prize.

Several blocks away, several other families were gathered at the intersection of McMorran Boulevard and Huron Avenue where music was playing, businesses were selling goods in the street and children played on an inflatable slide, all part of the Fun Zone the city set up this year after deciding not to host the carnival like in previous years.

"I think it's great that there's a place for kids where parents can look away and not worry they'll be hit (by a car)," said Kelli Carter, who visited the Fun Zone with her daughters.

The Fun Zone hosted a table for kids to play with Legos, and performances by professional juggler Tim Salisbury and magician Gary Thison, drawing laughs and cheers from an audience that only grew as their performance went on.

Information about the remaining Boat Week events is available online at https://www.thebluewaterfest.com .

Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Family Night brings fun and celebration to Port Huron during Boat Week