Genesee County, MI — From Bluebell Beach to Banana Boat Ice Cream, Wednesday’s heat wave, which brought temperatures above 90 degrees, didn’t stop Flint-area residents from enjoying the outdoors with activities that kept them cool. Check out the photos below.

Maurice Braun (left) and Alexander Carsten (center, left) run through a water fountain while Alexander’s father Danny Smock (right) and Maurice’s sister Zaria Davis (center, right) watch them on the splash pad at Bluebell Beach on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Albert Minor (center, right) hugs his grandkids Maurice Braun (left) and Jeremiah Braun (center, left) and Zaria Davis (right) on the splash pad at Bluebell Beach on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Minor and his family are originally from Flint, but live all over Genesee County now, he said. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Albert Minor holds his grandson Maurice Braun by their picnic table at Bluebell Beach on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
From left to right, Fenton resident Charlee Carlson Mocny, her father Jason Carlson Mocny, her brother Isaac Carlson Mocny, and Genesee Township resident Emery Little jump for a frisbee in the water at Bluebell Beach on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Fenton resident Isaac Carlson Mocny (right) lounges on a beach chair with Genesee Township residents and siblings Haylen Olson (center) and Crew Olson (right) in the water at Bluebell Beach on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Genesee Township resident Emery Little (left) poses for a photo with Fenton residents and siblings Charlee Carlson Mocny (center) and Isaac Carlson Mocny (right) in the water at Bluebell Beach on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
From left to right, Genesee Township residents and siblings Crew Olson, Camden Olson, Haylen Olson, and Cole Olson pose for a picture in the water at Bluebell Beach in Genesee Township, Mich. on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.
Flint resident Alessandra Wiggins (left) and her mother Kamil Wiggins (right), a General Motors employee, pose for a photo at Bluebell Beach on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Alessandra Wiggins is heading off to college at Lawrence Technological University in the fall, so she said she and her mother headed to the beach to spend time together before she moves out. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Sheila McChester (black dress) teaches a hustling class at Hasselbring Senior Center in Flint’s Northside on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Hustling is also known as line dancing, but McChester and her group said they prefer the term hustling. The Hasselbring Senior Center opened its doors as a cooling center because of the scorching temperatures. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Participants in Sheila McChester’s (black dress) hustling class pose for a photo at the Hasselbring Senior Center in Flint’s Northside on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Hustling is also known as line dancing, but McChester and her group said they prefer the term hustling. The Hasselbring Senior Center opened its doors as a cooling center on Wednesday because of the scorching heat outside. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Writer and local journalist Lewis Clay (right) works on his book with Joshua Johnson (center) and Bertha Simmons (left) on their porch on Flint’s Northside on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Clay said he’s been drinking lots of water and staying in the shade. “Just trying to stay cool, catching a breeze every once in a while,” Simmons said. “We don’t have air conditioning, so we got fans all in the house.” (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Neicy Darrough (center) poses for a portrait with her grandchildren Amir Block (left) and Havion Isom (right) outside her home on Flint’s Northside on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Amir and Havion live out of state but visit Darrough for the summer every year. “You see he’s got the water there,” Darrough said, pointing to the water bottle Amir was tossing up into the air. “Then they been eating freeze pops and popsicles,” she added. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
From left to right, siblings Coryonna Blackmon, Kamya Blackmon and Coryonta Blackmon pose for a photo while playing outside in Flint’s Northside on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Coryonta Blackmon poses for a portrait on his bike while his sister Coryonna Blackmon plays with hers in the background in Flint’s Northside on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
From left to right, Flint residents William Jarrett, Armilda Clark and Bonnie Hornsby relax on a park bench at Stepping stone Falls on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Clark reminisced about riding on the Genesee Belle Paddlewheel Riverboat on hot summer days like Wednesday. The Belle was a large riverboat that Clark said featured wine and dinner for passengers while they cruised on the Flint River. The maintenance costs on the boat have kept it docked for the last two years, and it won’t be on the water this year, according to a Genesee County parks spokesperson. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Flint residents and twin sisters London Spearman (center, left) and Ashlynn Spearman (center, right) throw popcorn to geese with their older brother Dominick Spearman (left) and father Alfonso Spearman (right) near Stepping Stone Falls on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Dominick Spearman said he’d usually be out on a boat with his friends on a hot day like Wednesday. All the places to swim in the Flint area are outside the city, he added. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Flint residents and twin sisters Ashlynn Spearman and London Spearman pose for a portrait near Stepping Stone Falls on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Customers line up around Banana Boat Ice Cream on Corunna Road on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Flint residents Tina Fuller (left) and Angela Williams (right) pose for a photo with their ice creams outside of Banana Boat Ice Cream on Corunna Road on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
Latrice Underwood (left) and Melody Relerford (right) pose for a photo after finishing their ice cream at Banana Boat Ice Cream on Corunna Road on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Underwood said the factory she works at doesn’t have air conditioning, so she brought in boxes of popsicles for her coworkers. Relerford works as a community health navigator at Blue Cross Complete. She had been working from home since the pandemic began, she said. “Today is the first day I had to work outside the house – the hottest day,” she said. “I had to go through like 15 clients out there.” (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)
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Michael Indriolo

Michael is Flint Beat’s multimedia journalist. He joined the team as a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered...