For Immediate Release         Media Contact:  Steve Kappler or Marjorie Beenders
April 11, 2008                                                Phone: 573-636-8282 « Email: info@tbwgroup.net

Spring Harbor Hop Greets Boating Season
at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks

 Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. –It’s true that many people consider Memorial Day the start of the boating season at Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.  But for the past decade the accepted kickoff has been moved up to the Spring Harbor Hop.  This year at the 11th annual Spring Harbor Hop, boaters and visitors will officially greet the Lake boating season on Saturday, May 3, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

This popular on-the-water poker run is expected to attract more than 1,800 “Hoppers” who will cruise among 46 checkpoints, drawing cards for what they hope will be a winning poker hand.

Participants can start their run at any of the sponsors’ checkpoints – lakeside restaurants, bars and marinas along the Lake’s Main Channel and Big Niangua and Gravois arms – where they will pay an optional $15 donation per seven-card hand and draw their first card.  Six additional cards will be drawn as boaters “hop” to six more checkpoints.  Players will turn in their hand(s) where they draw the seventh and final card.  All hands must be turned in before 7:00 p.m., Saturday, May 3.  Individuals may play as many hands as they like.

Prizes will be awarded for first through 10th place, based on money raised from entry donations.  Winners will receive gift certificates redeemable at Harbor Hop sponsors.  Based on past Hops, the first-place winner could receive as much as $900.  In addition, prizes will be awarded to Hoppers holding the top hand from each of the Lake’s four geographical sections

(Section I – Gravois Arm; Section II – beginning at Bagnell Dam; Section III – beginning at Mile Marker 13; Section IV – beginning at Mile Marker 28.5).  To qualify, a player must draw all seven cards within the same section.
Players with a winning poker hand will be notified by mail.  But even “losers” can be winners in the Harbor Hop: Ten individuals who do not hold a winning hand will be eligible for a random prize drawing, and prizes also will be awarded for the four worst hands.

The Spring Harbor Hop was inspired by the equally popular Fall Harbor Hop, which will celebrate its 23rd anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 11.  Both events are sponsored by the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau, the Lake of the Ozarks Marine Dealers Association and waterfront restaurants.

“The Spring Harbor Hop opens the boating season and gives people a chance to see the amazing variety of the waterfront establishments, as well as what’s new or changed from last year,” says Tim Jacobsen, executive director, Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau.

Fun is assured at the Spring Harbor Hop – but not fair weather.  Even so, “rain or shine, Hoppers will be hopping,” says Lisa Coughlan, director of marketing for the Lake of the Ozarks CVB.  “It’s always exciting to greet our Harbor Hoppers once again and get the Lake boating season off to an early start.”

For more information about the Spring Harbor Hop or other events, attractions, lodging, dining and shopping at Central Missouri’s scenic Lake of the Ozarks, visit www.funlake.com or call 800-FUN-LAKE (386-5253).

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