For Immediate Release         Media Contact:  Pam Jones or Marjorie Beenders
November 12, 2008                                          Phone: 573-636-8282 « Email: pam@tbmg.net

Lake Holiday Lights Drive-Thru Light Park is Set to
Sparkle at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks

 Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. –Visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks will enjoy a mile of dazzling holiday light displays and seasonal family fun galore at the first annual Lake Holiday Lights Drive-Thru Light Park, Nov. 22-Dec. 31 at the new Osage Beach City Park off Highway 54. The park, featuring more than 80 lighted displays, will be open 5:30-9:00 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays, and the entire week of Dec. 25-31. The cost will be $10 per car.

“The holiday season is a fabulous time to visit the Lake of the Ozarks, thanks to the Lake Holiday Lights Drive-Thru Light Park and other seasonal attractions, plus great Lake-area holiday shopping and outstanding lodging and dining,” says Trisha Creach, executive director of the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re expecting more than 10,000 visitors to enjoy the light park and other holiday happenings at the Lake, and hopefully to spend a night or two here.”

Lake Holiday Lights will offer colorful lighted displays including charming animated scenes and dazzling lighted tunnels. Displays will include leaping reindeer, trumpeting angels, Santa on a wave runner, dancing penguins, Rudolph fishing, Santa fishing, God Bless America and dozens more.

In addition to the displays, on Fridays and Saturdays the light park will offer a Holiday Village where community organizations will raise funds by selling hot cocoa and snacks. Santa will be on hand for photos with children, too. “This will bring together a lot of elements of the community, and also give kids another opportunity to tell Santa what they want for Christmas,” says Michelle Cook, marketing director for the Lake Area Chamber. “And after Christmas, we’ll celebrate with a New Year’s theme. You can expect a few surprises!”

Cook notes families will be able to tune in the park’s holiday music on their car radios as they drive along the one-mile circuit. “It’s truly an economical family event for the holidays, especially when you use a $2-off coupon available at sponsors’ locations and Willmore Lodge,” she says. “The light park’s location in Osage Beach City Park makes it so accessible. And it’s right next to the 110-store Osage Beach Premium Outlets mall and close to the Main Street Music Hall holiday show plus a lot of the seasonal events going on around the Lake on weekends and during the week.”

She adds several resorts and hotels will include light-park tickets in specially priced stay-and-shop packages. “Come early and go Christmas shopping, then tour the light park after dark and you’ll still have time for the show at the Main Street Music Hall or a holiday cruise on the Celebration yacht. Then spend the night at a Lake-area resort, hotel or condo and you have all the ingredients for a fantastic family getaway at the Lake of the Ozarks,” Cook says. “We also invite the ladies to come to the Lake for a shopping and spa getaway prior to the hectic holidays.”

In addition to Lake Holiday Lights, three other light parks will sparkle at the Lake area throughout the season. The 15th Annual Enchanted Village of Lights will cover a one-mile avenue in Laurie’s 27-acre Hillbilly Fairgrounds from 5:00-10:00 p.m., Nov. 27-Jan. 1, 2009, featuring nearly 100 lighted and animated holiday scenes and decorated trees. Admission is free or by donation. Also in Laurie, the 28th annual Festival of Lights at the Shrine of St. Patrick on Highway 5 is the oldest light park in the area. Open Nov. 27-Jan. 1, 2009, it traditionally focuses on the meaning of Christmas. Admission is free.

A Versailles tradition for more than 15 years, the quarter-mile Versailles Light Park will illuminate the city park at the junction of Highways 5 and 52 West 5 p.m.-midnight, Nov. 27-Jan. 1, 2009. Admission is free.
Dozens of other family-oriented holiday festivities will be happening at the Lake of the Ozarks, including parades and Christmas tree displays, concerts and dances, crafts fairs, theatrical performances and much more. And don’t forget the outstanding holiday shopping at the Lake of the Ozarks! From the Osage Beach Premium Outlets to local shopping centers, nationally known chains to locally owned art galleries, antique shops and specialty boutiques, it’s easy to find something for everyone on your Christmas gift list at the Lake.

For more information about the Lake Holiday Lights Drive-Thru Light Park—including a sneak peak at some of the displays—plus up-to-date listings of Lake-area holiday events and activities, call the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce at (573) 964-1008 or toll-free at (800) 451-4117, or visit www.lakeholidaylights.com. And for more details about Lake-area shopping, lodging, dining and year-round fun at Central Missouri’s scenic Lake of the Ozarks, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at (800) FUNLAKE or visit www.funlake.com.