Hummingbird Festival Offers Tiny Birds and Big Fun
at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks

 Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. – Hummingbirds will provide the theme and Gravois Mills will provide the setting for the second annual Hummingbird Festival on Saturday, June 23.
   
The family-friendly event at Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks will run from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the ball field on Troutdale Road, one-quarter mile off Highway 5 in downtown Gravois Mills. Hummingbird and gardening experts, antique tractors and unique automobiles, plus music, food, arts and crafts booths and a fiddle contest will make it a memorable day.
   
Sponsored by the Gravois Mills Community Betterment Association, the festival will coincide with the high season of hummingbirds in the village, which will be decked out in hummingbird banners and flags. To inform visitors about these fascinating birds, noted ornithologist and wildlife photographer Dr. John Hess, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, will be the festival’s guest speaker, offering presentations on “Knowing Hummingbirds” at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.  In between, Dr. Hess will be available to answer questions about hummingbirds and how to attract them.
   
Master gardener Lynn Todd also will be on hand from 10:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to answer gardening questions and to share tips about making your garden “hummingbird friendly.”  She will have for sale hummingbird feeders and plants that attract hummingbirds.  In addition, noted local historian and author H. Dwight Weaver will share his knowledge of the history and geography of the Lake of the Ozarks.
   
The Gene Gennetten Memorial Car Show will feature vehicles from the collection of the late Gene Gennetten.  “Thanks to Gene’s wife, Nina, several of his cars, including a very rare 2003 Salen S-7, a 1957 Pontiac, a1 952 Chevy truck and a 1959 Oldsmobile convertible will be on display all day, along with autos owned by other car-show participants,” says Joel Kirkpatrick, festival chairman.  Tractors from yesteryear, owned by members of the Osage River Antique Power Tractor Club, also will be on display throughout the day.
   
The Hummingbird Fiddle Contest will start at 2:00 p.m., with prizes of $200, $100 and $50.  “It’s open to all comers,” Kirkpatrick says.  Other festival music will be provided throughout the day by the popular local band Dealer’s Choice, plus country-western performers The Straubs, Christian musical group Faith Walking, and local church groups.  Radio station KS-95 will broadcast live from the festival starting at 11:00 a.m.
   
Hummingbird flags, feeders, T-shirts and other hummingbird items will be available at various vendor booths. Drawings will be held throughout the day for collectible hummingbird ornaments. Food booths will offer barbecue, funnel cakes, kettle corn and more.

 “We’d like to invite everyone to join us for a day of food, fun, special events – and hummingbirds,” says festival organizer Rita Farr.  “Let’s cross our fingers and hope for lots of sunshine.”
   
For more information about festivals, lodging, dining, shopping and attractions at the Lake of the Ozarks, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau at 800-FUN-LAKE (386-5253), or visit www.funlake.com.

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