RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks will be presenting the 3rd Annual Real Estate Symposium on September 9, 2010. The event will be held at Osage National from 3:00-5:00pm and a reception following with a cash bar. Several real estate agents, lenders, appraisers, developers and other professionals gathered together the prior two years for this event.

Anyone interested in attending is welcome, there is no charge, but seating is limited. Topics will include the mortgage industry, a national and local perspective on real estate, auctions at the lake, local real estate statistics comparing 2010 with previous years, and foreclosures and how they affect our market.

“This symposium is a must attend, for anyone interested in Lake of the Ozarks Real Estate. It is important to review our trends, and understand where our market is within the state and national scene” comments Frank Christensen, CEO of RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks.

For more information and to RSVP to the symposium, please visit http://resymposium2010.eventbrite.com.

Lake Regional Health System will host the informational forum “Living with Heart Failure” from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, in the hospital’s third floor conference rooms.

Topics will include an overview of heart failure, how to manage it through diet and exercise and what to expect if hospitalization occurs. The forum will be presented by Lake Regional Chronic Care Coordinator Marty Megenhardt, R.N., BSN, and Anita Marlay, R.D., L.D., and Kim Farris, R.N., with Lake Regional Cardiac Rehab.

The program is free, but registration is required. Visit lakeregional.com/events to register, or call 573-348-8222 for more information.

Lake Regional offers a variety of educational programming topics during the year, such as diabetes, heart disease and childhood obesity. Several health fairs and screenings also are held annually throughout the lake area. For information on upcoming events, visit lakeregional.com/events.

Camdenton High School Principal Tim Hadfield, who was introduced to Camdenton Optimist Club by Program Chairman Dale Wilkerson, told of the great progress in reaching academic goals by students and the challenges of seeking continued improvement in a difficult economic environment.

The date was August 14th, 2010 and thousands of people descended on the banks of the Osage River to witness thousands of rubber duckies waddling through the current to the finish line. The day began early with a 5K Fun Run and Waddle Walk, which 76 people participated in, followed by a Family Fun Zone with family fun for all. The Bagnell Dam River Park came alive with a carnival type atmosphere including live entertainment, bouncy houses and games for the kiddos, and many vendor booths offering everything from great food, games and face painting to health, wellness and safety information. The anticipation in the crowd grew as the drop time neared and you could feel the excitement growing. With people lining the banks of the river and the finish line in place, Lake Ozark Helicopter, with the assistance of watercraft beneath, dropped thousands of rubber duck into the river and the race was on. Quickly adapting to the conditions of the river, which was significantly lower than the previous year, the rubber ducks were strategically dropped on the Osage River considering first and foremost the safety of event staff and other boaters.

The early winners of the day in the 5K Fun Run and Waddle Walk are as follows: Under 12 - 1st - Grant Gamm - 25:00, 2nd - Blake Dymond - 25:25; 13-18 Years - 1st - Vincent Sabourin - 24:12, 2nd - Monica Cisar - 28:55; 19-29 Years - 1st Place - Jason Urlicks - 22:39, 2nd Place - Jimmy Cook - 23:46; 30-39 Years - 1st Place - Jill Durnin - 21:19, 2nd Place - Jesse Shields - 23:27; 40-49 Years - 1st Place - David Stock 19:17, 2nd Place - Todd Leeman - 21:10; 50-59 Years - 1st Place - Rodney Wright - 23:20, 2nd Place - Jim McDermott - 25:26; 60+ Years - 1st Place - Gil Hartman - 27:33, 2nd Place - Lawson Barclay - 28:20.

Linda Rowland, a teacher with School of the Osage, was awarded the first prize of $5000. Second Place of $1000 was awarded to Tracy Evans. Bev Thomas was awarded third prize which was a $500 Paul’s Supermarket Grocery Card. Gabe Wilson, Ed McManus, Osage Animal Hospital, Suzanne Frey and Nathan Arnold were each winners of $100 Hy-Vee gift cards. $50 Pickled Pete’s certificates along with $50 Kwik Kar gift cards were awarded to Deb Garman, Kendall Kolb, Sue Defosset and Murry Ferris, while the lame duck prize of a frozen duck went to Ken Hall. On behalf of the Kiwanis of Ozark Coast, The Bagnell Dam Strip Association and The Lake Area Chamber of Commerce we congratulate all of the winners as well as thank all of the sponsors and volunteers who helped make the event another great success!

Plans are already underway for the 3rd Annual Great Bagnell Dam Duck Drop in 2011 for which information will be released as it becomes available.


Duck Drop Fun Zone

New mobile website focuses on pinpointing businesses by a Smartphone’s GPS.

HERE and NEAR is a navigational guide to Lake of the Ozarks giving tourists information and GPS coordinates on area businesses. With Smartphone’s becoming more and more popular there is a need for a Lake guide that tourists can carry with them.

HERE and NEAR is simple to use. Just launch the website, click on an area of interest, and be provided with categories of businesses to choose from such as lodging, entertainment, dining, shopping, etc. From the category listing, pick a business you would like to see and you are presented with detailed information. On the detail page, click a phone number to dial with your Smartphone, click a link to their website, or click their GPS coordinates to find your way there. That's it…simple as 1-2-3.

There is also a desktop version of the site that works much the same way. You are presented with three columns, the first column provides business names, the second column provides a map with markers, and the third column provides detailed information on the business. The desktop version allows tourists to make plans before they get to the Lake.

"I grew up at Lake of the Ozarks. Helping small and large businesses connect with customers gives me great satisfaction,” says Sam Olive, owner of HERE and NEAR, a service of the Olive Company. "Smartphone use is gathering steam, in the U.S., new research shows. Over 40 percent of Americans use their Smartphone’s to e-mail, surf the web, and text message according to research. That is up from 32 percent just a year ago. Smartphone sales have received a summer boost from recent introductions of Apple's (APPL) iPhone 4 from AT&T, Motorola's (MOT) Droid X on Verizon and Sprint's (S) HTC EVO,” says Olive.