DELTA COUNTY, Mich. (WLUC) – The Rockin’ for Bay Music Festival is a fundraising effort taking place this Saturday in downtown Gladstone for the Bay College athletic department.
It’s an effort to help add needed improvements to the campus’s growing sports program.
Mike Pankow is the Bay College Assistant Athletic Director, Sports Information Director, and head baseball coach, helping to make the event happen.
“Our students will be there helping out with the event and it’s a great opportunity for them to kind of reach out and be part of the community and get to see stuff outside of campus. Delta county is blessed with a great music scene and it’s not always the case that you can say hey, we are bringing in some great music acts,” he said.
Pankow says Bay College athletics is represented by the Norse and has evolved into a noteworthy NJCAA program. Multiple sports are offered, including men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s cross-country.
The fundraiser will feature a main stage and a smaller stage with continuous music from several bands, some traveling from as far as Minnesota and Georgia.
Ryan Adams owns Wally’s Bar in Gladstone. Not only is he helping organize the event in the downtown area, but he is a bass player in one of the performing bands. However, Adams says it’s a united effort to support the athletes at Bay.
“Everyone around has been awesome. Almost every business on Main Street has donated, and everyone’s chipped in. They haven’t done a festival in, I think, three years now? And we were just hoping we could bring it back and raise some money for the athletes at Bay,” he said.
Panko says he is excited about the opportunity to help raise funds for multiple facility improvements.
“There’s a lot of facility improvements that we’re looking at right now. Building new dugouts and, down the road, a press box at the baseball/ softball fields. And some improvements around the building here. One of the goals is to have a full-time weight room here on campus for our students alone, for our athletes alone,” he said.
All proceeds from the $20 admission to the Rockin’ for Bay Music Festival will go to the athletic department, with festivities running from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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