OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Local officials gather for a group photo Wednesday after the city of Dunkirk announced its summer events schedule.

The city of Dunkirk held a rollout event Wednesday afternoon at the Boardwalk for its summer events schedule.

Various city officials and media gathered to hear about the city’s largest slate of events since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Among other things, the Memorial Day parade and Music at the Point are returning after a hiatus, and some new events will be happening.

Mayor Wilfred Rosas sought to emphasize the importance of sponsors for the summer series. “I have to tell you how important it is to have sponsors that understand the meaning of sponsorship,” he said. “We had to come with well over $100,000 to put together a schedule of events.” The mayor named a long series of local businesses and organizations that are acting as sponsors.

Rosas added that small donations from citizens were important as well.

“We did have many city residents that provided us with $25, $50 donations,” he said. “We’ve also had, in a separate pool, donations for our fireworks display. This year we were able to come up with the extra $5,000 for just donations. As you know, prices are going up, and our vendor brought up our price by $5,000, but we were able to make it up without city taxpayer dollars.”

Vince DeJoy, city planning and development director, spoke about the Boardwalk and how the summer events will spotlight it.

“We’re just so pleased to have this mixture of some boutique merchants here that have some very great products, and food and beer, and it’s going to be a great summer,” he said.

The city’s festival and events coordinators, Ryan Hall and Scott Mekus, went down the list of events. “We have a long, full list,” Hall said.

Mekus highlighted the comeback of the Dunkirk Firemen’s Hose Races at a Fired Up for Summer Kickoff event, set for June 9 to 11. He noted a few new attractions: a Christmas in July event set for Memorial Park, a national walleye fishing championship tournament Aug. 21 to 26 and a Lobster Fest at Memorial Park Aug. 27.

Rosas said of the fishing tournament, “It’s a huge event for the city. To be able to land this is not easy.” He added that it would bring two days’ worth of national TV coverage for the Dunkirk waterfront.

Returning events also include the popular Music on the Pier series, the Fourth of July celebration and fireworks, and the Beach Bash at Wright Park and the Back-to-school Bash at Point Gratiot.

For more information, visit the Dunkirk Festivals and Special Events page on Facebook or go to www.cityofdunkirk.com.