Articles

By Marz Anderson

Published: Jun. 23, 2024 at 7:47 PM EDT

JACKSON, Mich. (WILX) - One of Jackson’s largest events came to an end Sunday, the Gus Macker touring basketball tournament.

People of all ages got to show their stuff on the court over the weekend and small businesses even showed off their goods too.

Gus Macker has returned to downtown Jackson, it’s one of the biggest events of the year. Bringing out residents from across Jackson County and their businesses.

“Every year, we can count on it just bringing in these loads of people and I mean they’re having a good time, they’re playing ball,” said Sam Durocher owner of Tiki Sam’s Pizza.

It’s one of the many businesses to take part in Gus Macker during its stop in the heart of Jackson. Durocher says since the tournament returned to the city in 2018, businesses downtown and vendors lining the streets have benefited from the extra foot traffic.

“We do really well down here, people love pizza. After the first one, they really realized that the amount of people that come here for this event, it blows my mind,” said Durocher.

“People come from all around the county and even outside of the county to come and support this Gus Macker. I would like to think it’s because of how much work we’ve done in the Jackson community to bring the downtown up and invested in our downtown and that’s something we plan to continue to do, said City of Jackson Mayor, Daniel Mahoney.

Mahoney was providing support to his daughter’s business, sisters’ smoothies.

He says the event is full circle from the sponsors helping bring the event to the city, to the community’s support of local business.

“All of the pop-ups that you see, all of the tents that you see, all of the food trucks that you see for sure. All of the downtown businesses are participating it’s a wonderful thing,” said Mahoney.

Mahoney says Gus Macker followed their annual Juneteenth celebration and is another great way for the city to kick off the summer.

“The community just comes out, shows up, and shows out,” said Mahoney.

“They support our small business, I mean we’re a small business and I just am super grateful for that,” said Durocher.

Gus Macker is now in its 50th year. Profits for the event are donated to volunteer groups who support Gus Macker and non-profits across Jackson County. Gus Macker has given $25,000 since tipping off back in 2018.

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