Graphic courtesy of City of Hancock

HANCOCK — With students heading back to school and leaves beginning to change color, summer is on its way out.

Before it goes for good, the City of Hancock is preparing a sendoff to remember.

Saturday will mark Hancock’s inaugural End of Summer Celebration, including games, vendors, dancing and other fun.

After being thrilled by the success of July’s Key Ingredients event, the city began looking for a way to celebrate the end of summer. It also wanted to avoid coming too close to Houghton’s Fall Fest.

“We felt June, July and August have so many events that all of a sudden there’s not as many things to do,” said Community Development Manager Todd Gast. “…We felt like it would be a really great time to have a celebration here in Hancock.”

The day will start with a pickleball tournament at 10 a.m. and ending around 12 hours later with a laser light display on Quincy Green.

Spots are still available for the pickleball tournament at Laurn-Grove Park and the corn hole tournament, which starts 2 p.m. at the back parking deck at 400 Quincy St. Those interested can call Hancock City Hall at 906-482-2720 or email dda@cityofhancock.net.

From 2 to 6 p.m., Quincy Green will be filled with bouncy houses and kids’ games. Kaleidoscope, Keweenaw CAPE and Bridging the Gap Day Care will have chidlrens’ activities, while Hancock Rotary is doing a duck pond.

Also on Quincy Green, eight food vendors in trucks, trailers and tents will be on hand to feed people from 2 to 9 p.m.

Starting at the same time as the cornhole tournament is a beer garden at 400 Quincy St. put on by the Hancock Fire Department. That will run from 2 to 11 p.m.

During the later part of that will coincide with a street dance on the back parking deck, from 6 to 10 p.m. The Marquette band Diversion will get the crowd moving, Gast said.

“It’s a really awesome cover band, and they play hits from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and beyond,” he said.

After the dance ends, people can make their way back to Quincy Green for a laser light show spectacular, which starts at 10 p.m.

A laser light company from Florida will bring a show set to music and displayed on a 30-foot screen.

“That is going to be something the copper country really hasn’t seen before,” Gast said.

And events are still being added. New to the slate is a ping-pong ball drop sponsored by the Hancock Business and Professional Association. Ping-pong balls will be dropped from the top of the city’s 80-foot aerial fire truck on Quincy Green. Each ping-pong ball will have a number on it, allowing some lucky contestant to win a prize.

“That’s another fun thing already added to the jam-packed day of celebration,” Gast said.