Sept. 27 is B.A.D.

Remember, B.A.D. is good.

That’s the motto for the fourth annual Brownsville Appreciation Day (B.A.D.) which will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Port of Brownsville Marina in Bremerton.

“It’s all free to the public,” Brownsville Port Manager Jerry Rowland said. “The only thing they have to pay for is a hot dog or hamburger.”

And at 50 cents a piece, B.A.D. attendees won’t clean out their wallets to buy something to eat.

All proceeds raised through food sales and the vendor application fees will be divided equally among the four elementary schools in the Port of Brownsville’s district — Cottonwood, Esquire Hills, Woodlands and Brownsville elementary schools.

Rowland said each school received $300 after last year’s B.A.D.

Rowland said B.A.D. “was a brain child” of the port commissioners who wanted to find a way to give back to the community.

“As a collective group, they were trying to figure out how to give back to our port district,” he said.

People can enjoy live music, a unicyclist display, face painting, a SCUBA demonstration, 30 arts and crafts vendors, dinghy rides around the marina and sail boat rides (if wind permits).

B.A.D. attendees can tour the Blue Shark, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, as well as several classic yachts.

B.A.D. will feature a classic car show for the first time this year. Rowland said, if weather permits, more than 150 cars may show up for the event.

“But no matter how many we get, it’s going to be a good time,” Rowland said. “So we’re going to have the classic events on both ends — the cars and on the water.”

Rowland said his favorite B.A.D. event is the SCUBA demonstration. A SCUBA diver pulls up various things, such as starfish, from the bottom of the marina floor, but ends the show by pulling up a treasure chest filled with surprises for the children.

“We don’t make a big production out of it, but it’s a lot of fun,” he said.

Rowland said B.A.D. really shows people what the Port of Brownsville has to offer, including a public dock, overlook park and waterfront picnic area.

“There’s a lot of people who live in this port district and never really realized there was a marina here,” Rowland said. “It is just enough out of the way that lots of people don’t know it’s here unless they have a boat.”

He said the Port hopes more than 1,000 people attend this year’s event. Between 800 and 900 people attended B.A.D. last year, so the Port is hoping for a good turnout this year.

Rowland said his wife, Marjie, led the charge to put B.A.D. together this year.

“She is pretty much single-handedly the driving force behind this,” he said. “This is all volunteer on her side.”

Rowland said he hopes B.A.D. is a hit this year so people will come back and use the Port of Brownsville facilities in the future.

“I think once they know it’s here they’ll come back and use it,” he said.

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