Bayside Family Day Promises Fun in O.C.

By Maddy Vitale It won’t be hard to find something exciting, entertaining, enticing and most importantly on these hot summer days -- refreshing -- to do at the first-ever Bayside Family Day on Saturday at the Second Street Marina in Ocean City. From 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., families are welcome to enjoy water sports demonstrations, live music, food and activities for all ages. “The first inaugural Bayside Family Day will highlight the business community on the backbays to bring guests and visitors down,” said Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The City of Ocean City, the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Bay business community are thrilled to work together on this new annual event.” The day will be packed with an array of activities, plenty of choices from a host of food vendors and demonstrations, Gillian explained. There will also be live music from the Tidal Wave Band, crafters and more. Families will get to see demonstrations of some of the many fun activities in the backbays. “Kids of all ages, as well as adults, will have lots of opportunities to see some highlights such as parasailing and kayaking, and a host of other demonstrations,” Gillian said. The Ocean City Sailing Foundation and the U.S. Coast Guard will be also be on hand as will police and fire personnel to do demonstrations. The event, designed to highlight all that the bay businesses have to offer, will be one of many annual Bayside Family Day events to come, Gillian noted. Some of the many attractions are as follows: -- Daks Kayaks will provide free kayak and stand up paddle board demos all day long in the bay. -- Pirate Voyages will be doing special “mini” trips that day. They will offer 30-minute trips at 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The price will be $12 per person. -- Ocean City Fishing Center’s Top Knot boat will be going by the marina at 12:15 p.m., 1:15 p.m. and 4 p.m. to talk about the trips they do. Pirate Voyages will feature "mini trips." -- The event will also feature fishing and crabbing demos on the docks, with rods for kids to use and a knot-tying station and a fish-identifying game along with door prizes. -- Ocean City Sailing Foundation will have sailboats on display, talking about the different lessons that they offer for sailing. -- The U.S. Coast Guard will be on hand doing educational demonstrations along with the Ocean City Police Department Marine Unit, Ocean City Beach Patrol and the Ocean City Fire Department. -- Ocean City’s mascots, Martin & Mollie Mollusk, will be on hand from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. for pictures. -- Food vendors and crafters will be selling their wares. -- Various back bay merchants will have tables set up providing information and specials on what they offer to customers and the various water activities that they do. -- The Tidal Wave band will be performing from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. -- The Ocean City Free Public Library Bookmobile will be on hand. Sponsors include Ocean City Parasail, Pirate Voyages, Jet Drive Exchange, Totally Tubular Water Sports and the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. Silver Sponsors include Daks Kayaks and Ocean City Fishing Center. Back Bay Committee members gather on the dock to plan the inaugural Bayside Family Day event.