News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Jim Gill performs interactive songs for children in the Big Tent at the Michigan Brown Trout Festival on Monday. Gill had the kids singing and dancing to his playful tunes. The Brown Trout board is trying to lure more children to the festival in hopes they will become active participants when they reach adulthood.

ALPENA — The Michigan Brown Trout Festival board is making a conscious effort to draw more kids to entertainment and fishing events in hopes they will become active in the festival when they reach adulthood.

This year’s festival includes more events geared toward families and kids and more fishing platforms for the next generation to participate in, with hopes the youngsters will become mainstays for the events for decades to come.

Barbara Rigg, vice president of the Brown Trout Festival, said having the kids experience the big tent for events that are appropriate for them may lead to them coming for other events when they are older.

She added that adding new family and children events and activities was a goal this year because the festival needs to be as well-rounded as possible and appealing to many different tastes.

“We had Family Fun Day on Sunday and we had more than 600 kids who received free school supplies,” she said. “We (had) two kids concerts (Monday) and we just want the festival to be as much as a family event rather than just a big beer tent. We’re trying to provide the entire community with things they want to see.”

Festival President Phil Paquette said earlier this week that the festival is at a crossroads. He said if there isn’t an increase in public participation in events and the fishing tournaments, there could be changes to the festival in the near future.

“Getting the young people involved is a challenge, not just for fishing but also hunting,” Paquette said. “We’re seeing less and less youth involvement and we want to get them involved at an early age and show them how fun and exciting it is. Maybe it will lead to a little less screen time and a little more time outdoors.”

Paquette said this year, there are three fishing events for the kids. He said there was the PNC Kiddie Classic on Sunday where kids can fish offshore and have them weighed and measured at the harbor, the Holcim Youth Offshore Tournament where kids can catch fish off a boat, and Stan Konecke/Dennis Koopikka Memorial Kids Tournament that started on Saturday and wraps up on Friday.

For years, local children have been able to hook and catch small trout out of the fountain at Culligan Plaza in Downtown Alpena. The event has been modified a touch this year, as the local Optimist Club is changing the location of the event to make it closer to the festival, Paquette said.

“They are going to set up a large tank and the kids can still fish in it,” Paquette said. “It will be set up by the Kiddie Park and it will be an activity the kids enjoy and close to the festival grounds that everyone can enjoy.”

Paquette said the kids also like watching the fish being weighed in each evening. He said people are welcome to come and watch the fish come out of the coolers and be weighed.

“We are looking at any way we can think of to get families and kids to come down, have fun, and be a part of the festival,” he said.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.