Plan a Reunion to Remember
at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks

 Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. –If you’re planning a reunion, the place to hold it is at Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.

The Lake area offers everything you’re looking for in a reunion: lodging, dining, activities and attractions for every group and budget. It’s centrally located and easily accessible by car – in fact, the Lake is within a day’s drive for millions of people. And with rolling, tree-covered hills and far-reaching expanses of water, the Lake of the
Ozarks provides a scenic setting for your special reunion – whether it’s a gathering for your family, class, military unit, club, neighborhood or business.

“Because we’re a family destination with multiple activities for all ages, we attract a lot of reunions at the Lake of the Ozarks,” says Tim Jacobsen, executive director of the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau. Each year the CVB receives about 500 requests for information specifically about reunions, and each year the Lake area hosts hundreds of reunions – including family, class, military, club, neighborhood, company and more.

“Our /2008 Vacation & Service Guide/ features a lot of information specifically about reunions and also lists the Top 10 Free Things To Do at the Lake, with links to virtual tours and contact information,” Jacobsen says. The guide is free and available by calling 800-FUN-LAKE (386-5253) or visiting _www.funlake.com_.

Where To Stay?

Deciding where to stay is half the fun of planning a Lake of the Ozarks reunion. After all, the Lake offers more than 7,000 rooms at more than 70 resorts, 30 motels, 17 hotels, and 1,000-plus rental condos. Reunions also are held at the area’s more than 20 campgrounds, eight bed-and-breakfasts and even on houseboats. Accommodations range from basic to luxurious, and many properties offer special rates, amenities and meeting spaces just for reunion groups.

In addition, several properties have professional meeting planners who work with reunion groups, like Shelley Caton, executive meeting manager at The Resort at Port Arrowhead in Lake Ozark. “We have very reasonable rates for groups who want to rent a meeting or banquet room, and groups that reserve at least 50 rooms receive a free hospitality suite,” she says. The Resort can accommodate groups up to 500. “When families get to the size where everyone can no longer fit inside mom and dad’s house, they need a meeting room or ballroom to get everyone together,” Caton says.

All groups who stay at The Resort at Port Arrowhead receive a designated welcome area, name badges and special packets with area information, as well as the services of an activity director to organize a poolside barbecue or bingo, cocktail or dinner cruise, shopping expeditions or a “Dive-In Movie” and special events for kids.

Reunion groups also appreciate that kids 12 and under dine for free at the resort’s award-winning Portside Restaurant (when accompanied by an adult), and that pets are welcome, too, says Lagina Fitzpatrick, director of sales and marketing. Most reunions take place in the summer, but, Fitzpatrick notes, an increasing number are being held over Thanksgiving and Christmas. “We have a group that comes every year, alternating between the two holidays,” she says. “Another group that comes every year consists of the parents, their five kids and grandkids and great-grandkids and all of their spouses and friends. The parents pay for everything and they say they’ll keep on doing that as long as
they can afford it and everyone makes an effort to come.”

Another generous patriarch is Joe May of Overland Park, Kansas. He has nine children, two stepchildren, 20 grandchildren and one great grandchild. “Everyone’s scattered all over so we don’t get to see each other very often,” May says. Finally, he decided the family ought to get together on a regular basis. “I said, I’ll spring for a room for Friday
and Saturday night for anyone who wants to come,” he says. About 30 people accepted the offer and the annual May Family Reunion at The Resort at Port Arrowhead was established. The family will meet for the seventh consecutive year at The Resort at Port Arrowhead this July, May says.

“The Lake of the Ozarks is so convenient because it’s right in the center of the country and we have people from Texas, California, Colorado, Washington, D.C. and Kansas,” says May, an insurance broker/agent. “At The Resort everybody does what they want. Some of the kids rent a boat and go water skiing and some rent jet skis. The adults hang out at the pool and the little ones enjoy the free mini-golf. There’s plenty to do right there.”

Other full-service resorts at the Lake of the Ozarks also welcome reunion groups. The Lodge of Four Seasons, for example, will host the Bravo Company First Battalion 9^th Marines, Oct 19-23. Robert Lavallee of Tupper Lake, N.Y., organized the reunion on behalf of his late father who served with the battalion in Vietnam in 1965-66. The group, which
will number 100-plus, previously met in Idaho and New York, but decided to meet in a more central location this year, Lavallee explains. Referrals, Internet research and numerous telephone calls led to the Lake of the Ozarks and the Lodge of Four Seasons.

“The Lake will offer a quiet, laid-back environment,” Lavallee says. “It’s a great backdrop for our reunion as opposed to a downtown area.” In addition the Lake area offers the veterans’ wives and children a variety of activities. “We’re looking forward to spectacular Ozarks fall colors, too,” he adds.

The veterans chose the Lodge of Four Seasons, Lavallee says, because “they have a lot of experience helping groups like ours plan a reunion, and also they offered us a very fair rate.” A variety of on-site amenities, like golf, dining, a marina and the renowned Spa Shiki, also appealed to the planners. “It has all the facilities a group could want
and then some,” Lavallee says. He adds the Lodge also will provide a private room to serve as the group’s base. The group also is looking forward to a lunch excursion cruise around the Lake and several events catered by the award-winning Lodge culinary team. “I think I gained 20 pounds just reading the catering menu,” Lavallee says. “We’re certain
this will be our best reunion yet.”

Another full-service resort that’s a popular reunion spot is Tan-Tar-A Resort, Golf Club, Marina & Indoor Waterpark, which hosted 38 reunions in 2007, from small groups to 100 or more, says Director of Sales Ann Walters. The resort has on staff a Social Coordinator who offers one-stop service for reunion groups that book at least 10 rooms. “We can
customize our services and coordinate all the details to match whatever a group wants,” Walters says. “For example, some groups request a complete schedule planned in advance and others want the freedom to explore our resort and the Lake area. We are happy to work with both and everything in between.”

Tan-Tar-A’s indoor waterpark has been a great attraction for reunion groups, Walters says, as well as the resort’s on-site mini-golf, bowling alley, horseback riding, arcade and more. In addition, the resort offers reunion groups hospitality areas, catered meal functions, a group registration area at check in plus help in locating activities around the Lake area, like photographers or entertainers. “We can set up a golf tournament,” Walters says, “and Reunion groups also can use our marina and rent boats and wave runners or arrange parasailing.”

Unique Experiences

“Some of our smaller, individually owned resorts are quite unique and offer a lot of ambiance,” Jacobsen says. “That can really add to the reunion experience.”

A prime example is Lakeview Resort in Sunrise Beach, which Jake Drake manages with his father, Dan, whose father bought the resort in 1946. Drake says Lakeview is a popular spot for family reunions for a lot of reasons. “We have 80 units ranging from one to eight bedrooms, all with a fully equipped kitchen. You can stay in one of our original rustic
cottages or a large lakefront home or a deluxe condo,” Drake says.

There’s no extra charge for using the large indoor and outdoor dining areas that each accommodate up to 50 people. “There’s a lot to do right here. Some groups never leave the premises,” Drake says. Lakeview offers indoor, outdoor and toddler pools, hot tub and sauna, pebble beach, two playgrounds, sand volleyball, tennis, horseshoes and basketball, boat docks and ramp and a marina with rentals, fitness room, game arcade, fishing piers and an enclosed, heated fishing dock complete with a color TV. “We have a lot of return business,” Drake says. “As time goes on we see a lot of second, third and now fourth generations of the same family.”

That applies to the family of Dawn Johnson of Ankeny, Iowa, a second-generation member of the Johnson family that’s been gathering at the Lake of the Ozarks every summer for 18 years, and at Lakeview Resort for the past 10 years. “It means so much to my parents to have us all be together,” she says. “Our group certainly has changed over the years. Now there are more kids and grandkids and even two great-grandchildren, adding up to about 28 to 32 of us each year. We keep going back to Lakeview because it’s right on the water and the kids all find so much to do there,” Johnson says. “Each year, the day we leave we start looking forward to going back.”

What to Do

When a reunion group takes a break from scheduled activities, the Lake of the Ozarks offers everyone from great grandpa to the younger generations unbeatable opportunities for fun and relaxation. Attractions include indoor and outdoor water parks, miniature golf courses, go-kart tracks, show caves with guided tours, excursion boats, live music show, arcades, a speedway, museums, shrines and spas. And don’t forget swimming, boating, tennis, bowling, horseback riding, championship golf, fishing, hiking – and shopping, including antique and specialty stores, the historic Bagnell Dam Strip, and the 110-store Osage Beach Premium Outlets, Missouri’s largest outlet shopping center.

The Lake’s two state parks always are worth a visit. With two sand beaches, boat rentals, fishing, hiking and biking trails and a cave, the 17,441-acre Lake of the Ozarks State Park is a great place to spend a day. Or, stay longer at the park’s campgrounds or camper cabins. Pavilions with nearby playgrounds can accommodate large groups.

The highlight of Ha Ha Tonka State Park is its famous castle ruins. Built by a wealthy businessman in the early 1900s and later destroyed by fire, the shell of this formerly grand mansion overlooks Ha Ha Tonka Spring and the Lake of the Ozarks from atop a 250-foot bluff. Also within this geological wonderland are miles of hiking trails, caves and
covered picnic shelters perfect for a reunion cookout.

From hot dogs to haute cuisine and everything in between, dining at the Lake of the Ozarks is another reason reunion groups meet there. More than 40 lakefront restaurants and dozens of other establishments offer American, Mexican, Chinese, Italian and “Ozark” (catfish, trout and barbecue) menus, from come-in-your-swimsuit-casual to high-style dining.

Most reunions take place in the summer; in fact, many attendees make their reunion part of a longer family vacation at the Lake. But more reunions are being held in the spring, when the redbuds and dogwoods blossom, and in the fall, when the Ozark hills are aglow in brilliant color. Winter reunions at the Lake of the Ozarks also are on the rise, as rates and crowds drop considerably. The holiday season is especially festive, with more than a million lights illuminating the streets. And an increasing number of reunions are being booked to coincide with one of the Lake’s popular festivals, like the Magic Dragon Street Meet car show, Mountain Man Rendezvous, Christian music festival or speedboat races.

No matter when, no matter where, a reunion at Central Missouri’s scenic and convenient Lake of the Ozarks is an event to remember. For more information about reunions at the scenic Lake of the Ozarks, or to find out more about year-round lodging, dining and recreational opportunities, call 800-FUN-LAKE (386-5253) or visit www.funlake.com (be sure to check out the helpful Meeting Planner section at www.FunlakeMeetings.com).

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