Lake Beat - June 2021
Belleville Lake is already hopping with resident and visitor boaters, kayakers, fishermen, even a new armada of paddleboaters (thanks to #PaddleBelleville), and it looks like a busy summer ahead on the West Coast of Wayne County. The inaugural Belleville lake Fest scheduled for June 25-27 has gotten the official post-Covid go-ahead. The lineup is packed with live music, fun spectacles like Dragonboat Races, a Biggest Bass Tournament, a Gong Show and “Light Up the Night” Boat Parade that’s expected to feature well over 300 boats.
“The LakeFest, like the Harvest Fest and Winter Fest before it, has the real potential to be a wonderful, family friendly, community building event,” says Deb Green, President, Rotary Club of Belleville, “The Rotary will be participating with a booth selling Duck Race tickets and information on wastewater management, and Trinity Episcopal Church will have a booth selling our famous strawberry pies.”
The Belleville Lake Fest marks a sorely-needed return to normalcy that our community is greatly looking forward to. The organizers are stressing high-quality events and vendors, while building in the ability to spread out the all-outdoor Lake Fest. In the event that another quarantine is mandated, then proper social distancing and mask-wearing will ideally permit the show to go on without cancellation.
“We are very excited to have Lake Fest in our community,” said Kevin McNamara, Van Buren Township Supervisor, “For so long having events felt so far away and now we have the opportunity to do something really great for our citizens and neighbors.”
The Belleville Lake Fest is proudly produced by the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Belleville Yacht Club, Servis Group and a host of proud community and business sponsors.
PADDLE BELLEVILLE LAUNCHES PADDLE BOAT & JET SKI RENTAL BUSINESS ON BELLEVILLE LAKE
As Belleville experiences the early stages of renaissance, Belleville Lake itself is drawing more tourists and companies to support the growing summer traffic. Area residents and visitors have long discussed the need for watercraft rentals, and now three good friends from Belleville High School have answered the call with their watersports startup, Paddle Belleville.
“Growing up around here, I was always drawn to the Lake,” explains Matthew McClean, co-founder Paddle Belleville, “So it made perfect sense to start a paddle boat rental service for both visitors and residents.”
Paddle Belleville offers a large selection of trusty paddle boats for rental and is now expanding its offerings to include motorized jet skis inspected by the DNR. The business officially launches on Memorial Day and is gearing up for the high demand expected leading up to and during the first ever Belleville Lake Fest.
