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Crowds entertained by annual regatta

ALPENA – The Eighth Annual Cardboard Boat Regatta was on Wednesday to celebrate the Fourth of July and people lined the banks of the Thunder Bay River and walking bridge to watch the teams race for victory. There were competitors from around the country competing.

Thunder Bay Theatre had 17 people on its boat and even though the boat failed and sank, the team had fun.

“A lot of us aren’t from this area so it’s our first time celebrating the Fourth of July in Alpena, which is just so awesome and we’ve been welcomed by the community,” Peyton Johnson, who is from Aurora, Ill., said. “We’re excited to embrace the community.”

Their boat was all cardboard with duct tape to hold the sides and corners together. It took the team a couple of days to put the boat together.

“There’s so many of us, but we put in so little effort,” Patrice Nelms said.

Nelms is from St. Louis, Mo., and said she came to Alpena to compete in the race because of the Thunder Bay River.

“There’s a strong sense of community here because everybody comes out,” Nelms said of the Fourth of July in Alpena.

Alpena High School students Matt Diamond and River Servia decided to join the Cardboard Boat Regatta because they’ve watched it in the past and it looked like fun to join. Servia won a contest that gave them free admission to compete. It took them four days to put their boat Freedom together.

“We looked at some boats that we knew had some pretty good stability and stuff like that,” Diamond said.

Diamond and Servia put supports in their boat to keep it afloat, but their boat sank when the competition got started. It was their first time competing so they were excited to be able to compete and know that they can continue getting better.

“This year is going to be kind of the rookie year where we see what happens and then may be in the coming years, we plan ahead to think of what was the best idea and the best way to support it,” Servia said.

Diamond and Servia had a shark on the front of their boat to try and intimidate the other competitors. Their boat had strings so when their boat sank, they were able to pull it.

“I think this might be starting a new tradition for us,” Servia said.

Julie Goldberg can be reached via email at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.

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