The Novi Rotary Club will staff a beer tent at the Michigan State Fair when the five-day event returns to the Vibe Credit Union Showplace (formerly Suburban Collection Showplace) on Grand River Avenue from Thursday, Sept. 3 through Monday, Sept. 7.

The club is recruiting volunteers to work the tent on a rotating schedule, according to a calendar listing posted on the Novi Rotary website Tuesday, Aug. 4 by Tom Kavanagh. The tent will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 8:40 p.m. each day of the fair.

The Rotary Club's largest annual service project is Novi Rotary Cares, a summer lunch program that provides free bagged meals to children up to age 17 at Village Oaks Elementary School four days a week. The program, co-founded by Darby Hoppenstadt alongside the Novi Community School District and Novi Interfaith Network, served 8,300 lunches in 2018, the most recent publicly available figure from a City of Novi presentation. Sponsors include Kroger, DTE, Chartwells and Community Financial.

Which specific charities will benefit from beer tent proceeds has not been announced.

The Michigan State Fair, organized by Michigan State Fair LLC, has been held at the Novi venue since 2013. The showplace at 46100 Grand River Ave. was renamed from Suburban Collection Showplace to Vibe Credit Union Showplace on Jan. 1.

The fair weekend also features a home-brewing competition and a Flights Beer Festival at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4 at the adjacent Hyatt Place, 46080 Grand River Ave.

Novi seniors age 50 and older can attend a free program before the fairgrounds open on Thursday, Sept. 3, from 10 a.m. to noon. The program includes entertainment, a boxed lunch, prizes and free fair admission. Spots are limited. Residents can call 248-347-0400 to reserve, according to the City of Novi.

Rotary members interested in volunteering for the beer tent can sign up through the club's website at novirotary.org.