And welcome back to Mixed93.
It's time for Hancock Happiness.
Todd Gast is here in the studio with us.
He has lots of wonderful things to discuss with us today, but first off, how are you?
I'm
doing pretty good.
How you doing?
I'm doing okay.
Awesome.
Happy Bridge Fest week.
That's right.
Happy Bridge Fest.
Yes.
There's never a time quite like Bridge Fest except when it's Bridge Fest.
Well, I always feel like it's the sure sign of summer.
Summer is here, right?
That's right.
When Bridge Fest is here, that means it's going to be summer.
And you know what?
We have a beautiful weather outside foggy conditions overcast skies.
That must be your favorite kind of weather then.
It's nice.
Well, my brother says his favorite weather is 55 degrees with a light mist.
I respect that.
Yeah.
It's
almost kind of like there.
It's a little warmer.
I think it's going to be a little warmer for my brother today.
You know, I think lower 60s and sunny is quite nice too.
Oh yeah.
But I like that in maybe April.
I like that throughout the whole summer.
I don't want 70 degrees, 80 degrees.
It's too hot.
I'm a gardener.
I gotta have some warm temperatures or else my garden garden is not gonna produce.
All right
Well, that's fair.
That's fair.
But we're gonna hop right into all the goings on and the happenings in Hancock.
If you love game night and you like having fun, then downtown Hancock is the place to be for game night every Thursday night.
You can join the fun at Casey Bonkers at 119 Quincy Street every Thursday for game night.
Bring your friends, your family.
What a great way to like have a board game night.
They've got tons of board games there to play.
Have yourself a nice cop.
beverage and kick back and relax as you begin the ideas at least of the weekend.
And then you can skip on over to New Teenies Supper Club at 321 Quincy Street where they host Trivia Night every Thursday beginning at 8.30 so you can grab a bite to eat in between Casey Bonkers and New Teenies and they're going to be doing some special uh uh Johannes and uh Fino Ugric Capital of
culture trivia questions.
That is this Thursday and next Thursday at New Teenies.
So if you want to get involved in those special questions for trivia night at New Teenies, tomorrow night and the following Thursday night, you're going to want to get on over there and have a lot of fun with trivia night at New Teenies Upper Club.
If you like getting in shape, then UP Health System Portage has these summer classes for you.
They call us outdoor functional fitness classes and that's fun.
Functional is the stress on that one.
And so you can do some strength training for everyday living on Quincy Green.
These sessions are designed to help you improve your stability, reduce the risk of falling, and enrich your everyday life.
This is open to all fitness levels.
And the first Thursday is tomorrow.
For those functional fitness classes out on Quincy Green, they begin
10 until 10.45 a.m.
every Thursday.
And those are $5 per class.
So not too bad for those classes.
So that is the outdoor functional fitness classes brought to you by the UP Health System Portage.
And that's on Quincy Green.
That starts tomorrow, 10 until 10.45 on Quincy Green.
I think I said that.
quite a few times, so just to make sure everybody knows they're outdoors.
There's a wonderful art exhibit at the Copper Country Community Art Center, Bealewood Weavers and Fiber Artists Guild Invitation.
Boy, this is a lot, so I'm going to start over again.
Bealewood Weavers and Fiber Artists Guild Invitational Exhibition.
That is a lot, so I had to have a second take on that.
But if you're interested in that, that is at the Carriage Gallery at the center and they are 126 Quincy Street until July 3rd.
But if you're interested in the opening reception, that is tomorrow night, Thursday, June 11th from 6 until 7.30.
So get out and have a lot of fun with the Bealewood Weavers and Fiber Artist Guild.
We want to thank the Copper Country Community Art Center because they spearheaded
all those wonderful wooden birds that you see in the planters outside, out on Quincy Street and on Hancock Street.
That is in celebration of our Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture.
And that stylized bird is called a CERC, and that is a T-S-I-R-K.
And that is the award that we received for the 2026 Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture.
So we want to thank them for spearheading that.
And we want to thank our community for coming out and
doing all the artwork on those birds.
So they're all original, they're all different, and those are all painted by our community.
So we want to thank our community as well for helping us spruce up our city for our...
summer solstice celebration, and that is next week.
But we wanted to get it already before and celebrate during Bridge Fest Week, so we hope everyone is enjoying all of the new decorations that we have out for the summer here in the City of Hancock.
So we have some road closures to talk about, about Bridge Fest.
The City of Hancock Police Department reminds residents that there are, there will be no parking on Quincy Street for the Bridge Fest Parade on Friday, June 12th, 2026, from five until
9 p.m.
The Quincy Street will be closed during these hours and that we ask all residents to adhere to detour signs and road blockades.
Do not go around the blockades.
They are there for a reason.
Please do follow the police department's directions at all times and we do appreciate your assistance and your understanding and your patience during Bridge Fest celebrations.
There is a lot going on and there's another road closure to be aware of.
On Saturday morning, 10 a.m., we will be closing Quincy Street from Ravine to Messenard Streets and that will be until 4 p.m.
Because guess what?
We've got a lot of things happening, including the kickoff to Bridge Fest, which is Kids on the Green.
That is on Friday, June 12th, from 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
and that features engineering camp.
The Hot Diggity Dog cost
assume parade and that's at 2 p.m.
and games and fun for all kids of all ages.
So there's gonna be a ton of fun things like they're gonna have Legos and you're gonna learn how to pull a truck out of once it's stuck in the sand.
You also be able to make slime and there will be puppet making.
So there's gonna be a lot of fun.
There's gonna be face painting.
So tons of fun things for the kids to enjoy and also to kick off Bridge Fest this year.
the hot diggity dog.
Dog costume parade is at two and we'll have wonderful prizes for that and we're going to be crowning top dog of Bridge Fest for 2026.
So make sure you get your fur pup all ready to be paraded up and down the sidewalk right on Quincy Green.
So make sure you do get ready for that as well.
The Thatcher Markham Memorial Run is at 7 p.m.
and then the parade, the Bridge Fest parade will be to follow.
We've got tons of sports tournaments on Saturday, June 13th.
We've got the pickle ball tournament at Lauren Grove at 9 a.m.
The tennis tournament will be at Terrace Park at 9 a.m.
and the cribbage tournament will be at New Teenies at 1 p.m.
with the cornhole tournament from noon until 4 p.m.
at 400 Quincy Street and that is a fundraiser for the Hancock High School hockey team.
The classic car and motorcycle show will also be at 400 Quincy.
We're moving that a little bit.
We used to have a
at the first two blocks of town, but we're moving it to the middle of town.
The center will be at 400 Quincy Street, and that will be from 11 a.m.
till 3 p.m.
with the Hot Dog Eating Contest, and that's Valwer's Hot Dog Eating Contest at 3 p.m.
Bling Crosby will be live right there on 400 Quincy Street, and the beer garden starts at noon, and that will be a fundraiser for the City of Hancock Fire Department.
and they will have that beer garden going right through 11 p.m.
because Outlawed is going to be the Street Dance performer.
If you love Outlawed, this is their only Western UP gig for 2026 right here in downtown Hancock for the Bridge Fest Street Dance from 7 until 11 p.m.
So we're now getting to the Johannes Summer Celebration that is next week.
That is June 17th through the 21st.
And we will be hosting ambassadors from Finland
uh, and Estonia and we just got word that we will have the Charges de Affaires, uh, from Hungary, uh, that is the third, uh, in command for the consulate, for the Hungarian consulate.
So that person will be here as well.
So this is a fairly, well, not just fairly, this is a historic, uh, event for the UP and the Upper Midwest.
to ever host three international diplomats at one time.
So things kick off on Wednesday, June 17th with lectures from Finland to Foundry and
pop-up exhibit and social at the Quincy Mine Hoist Museum and then the fourth annual Folk School at Midsummer Exhibit at the Finlandia Art Gallery.
Thursday has the Finno-Ugric Open Forum.
It's called Building Transatlantic Bridges.
There will be lectures, live music and torii at the Hancock High School.
That's from 11 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
We also have Friday, June 19th with more lectures, live music and torii at the high school.
The ambassadors will be
doing a press conference and they'll also be doing some greetings at the Hancock High School as well.
That evening brings the beach party and bonfire at Hancock Beach featuring international music.
Food fun and rewind will be the finale for the evening along with the long drink and beer gardens all at the Hancock Beach.
That all the festivities begin at 5 p.m.
and they'll go through approximately 10 p.m.
so get ready
for a lot of fun on Friday.
And then Saturday brings our mid-summer poll raising, the wife carrying contest, international sauna games.
Wolf's Head, that's all on Quincy Green.
And then Wolf's Head films will be showing the documentary heavy trip at the Orpheum Theater, I'm sorry, stumbling around a little bit.
And that'll be at 7 p.m.
And then the Michigan Air Guitar Contest will be to follow.
We've got about
We want to have about 15 air guitar competitors, and I think we're about at 12.
So we've only got a couple more slots to fill.
So if you want to win the big prize, then you are going to want to have to sign up.
You can call us at 906-482-2720 at City Hall.
email us at city at cityofhandcock.com.
So we want to wish everybody a happy Bridge Fest.
Be careful out there and be patient.
There's going to be a lot of road blockages, but there's going to be a lot of people in town.
So let's all have a fun and safe Bridge Fest.
All right.
Thank you very much for being here, Todd Gast.
I hope you have a good Bridge Fest as well.
It's a busy time.
So we're all going to have a lot of fun.
I'm sure we are.
All right.
This has been Hancock Avenue Things right here on Mixed 93.
