Rotary Club of Alpena Prepares for ‘Brew on the Bay’ Fundraiser

Brew on the Bay is the Rotary Club of Alpena’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and they’re excited to kick it off again at the end of this week.

They invited a number of craft beer and wine vendors to come in, and have items from all over Alpena donated in to be auctioned off. The money raised goes towards upgrades for the parks around Alpena.

“We like people to come here, we like the tourism, we want Alpena to be on the map, and when we have tourism coming in, it’s better for all the businesses, and it trickles down to everyone,” said former Rotary Club President Robert Barrigar.

The auction was originally a radio auction until just about seven years ago when it became brew on the bay. One focus for this year’s fundraiser is providing upgrades to the Splash Park.

“It’s just one of those things that, to be involved with a group that makes such an impact on so many different levels around Alpena,” said Barrigar. “It’s encouraging to see, my kids growing up, maybe they’ll want to stick around Alpena when they graduate and want to work.”

Brew on the Bay is important to the Rotary Club, as well as local businesses in the area. It’s their way of being involved and helping out the community, even in some small part.

“This is their little way of whether it’s donating an item or funds to the rotary through the rotary auction, or they can show up and actually bid on items and enjoy a great night,” said Barrigar. “It’s a ton of fun.”

The Rotary Club is involved with projects to make Alpena look more beautiful all throughout spring and summer and enjoy volunteers who want to do just that.

“Anything that’s involved with making Alpena a little bit better, but that’s what we’re all about, and there’s a lot of people around Alpena that want to get involved in a group that’s an active group, and that’s the rotary club,” said Barrigar.

Brew on the Bay takes place on Thursday, March 2nd at the Aplex from 6pm to 10pm.