During the hot summer months, nothing beats cooling off in the water at Lake of the Ozarks, so there is no better way to make the most of the fine seasonal weather than by coming along to the Lake of the Ozarks Water Wars Weekend!

This year’s event will be taking place at the Cross Creek RV Park at Lake Ozark on August 27^th. Last year was the inaugural Water Wars Weekend and it proved to be such a popular event that the organizers simply had to do it all over again this year.

The Water Wars Weekend is a great opportunity for all the family to chill out during the hottest days of the year. You can enjoy loads of fun water based events and competitions including the “sink the paddle boat contest”, a balloon launching competition with a trophy for the winner, water balloon golf, slip and slide, plenty of pool games for all ages, a wet hay ride, and lots more. There will also be a pot luck dinner at the end of the day.

And if you cannot bear the idea of dipping your toes in the water, make sure you carry your surrender flag at all times or you could find yourself wetter than the rest. But don’t worry—you can still have fun watching everyone else get wet and wild!

Cross Creek is an award winning RV Park and Campground and has plenty to offer visitors looking for a scenic place to park their RV for a day or two, or if you prefer, you can hire a cabin for the duration.

Be sure to reserve your spot at the Cross Creek RV Park and Campground nice and early in order to ensure a chance to enjoy one of the year’s most popular water-based events at Lake of the Ozarks.

Golfing enthusiasts can look forward to the 11th Annual For the Children Charity Golf tournament taking place on 20^th August. This is a charity golf tournament to raise money for the “For the Children” campaign. For the Children works with local children and provides funding to help families and children who have not had access to quality behavioral healthcare services, which makes this charity golf tournament a very worthwhile cause for anyone who wants to raise cash for the community by taking part in a series of golf challenges.

The Annual For the Children Golf Tournament will feature a number of different fund raising events over the course of the day. These include a four person scramble, a longest drive competition, and a longest putt competition. There will also be a silent auction and two “hole in one” chances to win a car.

All entrants can look forward to a commemorative golf polo shirt, a light breakfast prior to the 08:30 shot-gun start, followed by a delicious lunch at the conclusion of the golf tournament. There will also be plenty of door prizes and flight prizes.

After ten highly successful years, this year’s charity golf tournament will be held at the Old Kinderhook gold course, the only 4* golf course in the Lake of the Ozarks. Old Kinderhook is widely considered to be one of the best golf courses in Missouri and is located three miles west of Camdenton.

If you fancy entering the For the Children charity golf tournament, tickets cost $200 for an individual ticket or $800 for a team entry. To register for the event, visit the For the Children website or contact the organizers for more information. And if you fancy making a weekend of it for the whole family, the Old Kinderhook has special weekend packages available at special rates.

BBQ is a great American tradition, so what better way to enjoy a fine summer BBQ than to head along to the Packing in the Pigskin at Ozark BBQ on August 21^st in Sunrise Beach, Lake of the Ozarks.

This will be the second annual Packing in the Pigskin BBQ event to be held at Lake of the Ozarks, and once again, local football teams will compete to see who has the stamina and the stomach to eat the most pulled pork sandwiches! Obviously this event is not aimed at vegetarians, but if you enjoy some tasty pork cooked on a BBQ, come along and soak up the scent of delicious meat cooked on the bone.

As well as scrumptious roast pork cooked on an all American BBQ, families can enjoy a whole host of fin activities including a team dance contest and performances by local bands. There will be prizes on offer for the winners of the contests and games, plus a special prize for the best spirit decorated boat. Games for the kids include football toss, sauce toss, and lots of other skill games. All proceeds from this fun event will go towards benefiting local Ozarks booster clubs.

The venue for the Packing in the Pigskin BBQ is one of the friendliest Bar-B-Que restaurants in Lake of the Ozarks—the Ozark Bar-B-Que. A family oriented restaurant, the Ozark Bar-B-Que restaurant is suitable for kids of all ages, and is therefore the perfect venue for the Packing in the Pigskin BBQ event—so bring the kids and grandkids, and indeed any kids, and look forward to a fun day out with plenty of delicious fresh BBQ food, fun games, great music and a convivial atmosphere!

Just make sure you leave plenty of room for the unlimited supplies of roast pork on offer!

The second annual Lake of the Ozarks Skaterfest 2011 takes place between August 25^th and 27^th at the Camden on the Lake Resort and Spa, and over the course of three days, visitors and locals can expect a whole lot of fun events and activities.

Registration for the Skaterfest 2011 will be taking place on Thursday 25^th, so make sure you come along to the Camden on the Lake Resort to book your place at this exciting and fun event.

On the morning of Friday 26^th, there will be the Skater Fun Run from the Camden on the Lake Resort to Captain Ron’s Bar and Grill, followed by a delicious lunch at Captain Ron’s. In the evening, the Camden on the Lake Resort will be hosting a Catillac fun run to Bagnall Dam and participants can enjoy the opportunity of taking part in a Skater photo shoot with top local photographer, Jay Nichols from Naples Image. The boats will be also on display at the Camden Resort.

On Saturday 27^th, come along for a tasty breakfast at the Camden on the Lake Resort between 7am and 9am before the fun really begins—Captain Ron’s Shoot-out takes place between 10am and 4pm and at 7pm, the Skater Nation Party is where all the Skater folk will be congregating. Team Skater will be there to host a Cocktails and Docktales party and the boats will also be on display for those who missed out the previous evening.

This is your opportunity to see some of the fastest boats in the world, so be sure to come along to Camden on the Lake Resort during the Skaterfest 2011 weekend. All registered entrants will enjoy entry to the party for themselves and a guest, although additional tickets are also available for $20. Entrants will also receive lots of goodies, plus discounted resort rates.

The Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2011 is one of the best and largest unsanctioned boat races in the United States and is widely considered to be a genuine “must see” boat race event in the Lake of the Ozarks. This popular event takes place on August 22-28 at Captain Ron’s at Sunrise Beach, and if previous years are anything to go by, the organizers are expecting another record turnout, so book your vendor and dock places now to avoid disappointment!

This year’s Lake of the Ozark Shootout is the 22^nd event and more than 75,000 visitors are expected to flock to the Lake of the Ozarks to see boats reaching speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour in a bid to be crowned the “Top Gun” of the boating world.

Last year, the course record of 208 miles per hour was almost decimated, so this year, the organizers are hoping for a record breaking performance from the hopeful entrants.

But fast boats are not the only thing on offer for visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks Annual Shootout. Other fun family activities include a golf tournament and National Concert Performers, a treasure hunt, PWC dam run, the annual auction, fireworks displays and remote controlled boat races. There is even a contest to see who has the cleanest boat, so don’t forget to give yours a spring clean before the big day!

However, although this year’s Annual Shootout promises to be tremendous fun for visitors and locals alike, the committee behind this prestigious event are hoping that a record breaking figure will have been donated to charity by the end of the week. Last year, local charities, including eight lake fire departments, benefited from a share of $70,000 dollars, so come along this year, dig deep, and above all, have fun!

Lake of the Ozarks - Bagnell Dam Duck Drop 2011

Come along to Bagnell Dam, Lake of the Ozarks, for a fun-filled family day out where for the second year running, a gigantic duck race takes place on the scenic Osage River, just below Bagnell Dam. The event will be on August 13th at the Silver Star Campground and promises to be a wonderful day out for all the family.

7500 rubber ducks will be dropped in the Bagnell Dam. Tickets to adopt a duck cost $5 and are available throughout the Lake of the Ozarks area. If your duck is smart enough to beat the competition and arrive home first, you will win the $5000 first prize! But don’t despair, there are plenty of other spot prizes available on the day, including a lame duck award.

If you are feeling energetic, the Duck Drop day will begin at 8am with 5k fun run. Early bird entrance costs $10 up to 7th August, or $12 after this date and on race day. Children under 12 are free. Competitors can register and check-in for the race from 7am. Running the entire 5k is optional and competitors are more than welcome to jog, walk, or even waddle the course. Prizes will be awarded to the top two finishers in each age group category.

After the 5k race has been completed, the family fun zone will open to provide live entertainment, walking with clowns, duck ponds and duck painting, plenty of food and drinks, puppet shows, bouncy castles, plus vendors selling a variety of arts, crafts, and other goods. Bring the kids along to enjoy the sunshine, as well as all of the fun activities on offer.

The official duck drop will take place at 12 noon when all 7500 ducks will be dropped from helicopters, into the Osage River, free to swim to the finish line. You can watch thousands of yellow rubber ducks valiantly struggle with the currents as they try their best to be the winner. Last year, it took around thirty minutes for the first ducks to reach the finish line from being ejected out of the helicopter. This year, it might be even quicker!

Purchase your numbered duck ticket at the following locations for $5.00 for your chance to win $5000 or one of the other great prizes listed above!