Beyond the slides and concrete and flowers, however, our pride rests more deeply in our employees. From the President of the Board to the General Manager and all the way down to the newest hires, Big Surf Waterpark undoubtedly has the cream of the crop on its roster. Here’s just one example:

Clifton Luber

Clifton has been accepted into the Army, Navy and Air Force academies.  You can read more about it on LakeNewsOnline.com.  Congratulations and we’re proud of you, Clifton!

Gil Shark made an appearance and accepted a Certificate of Appreciation from the Relay committee.   He also handed out Golden Tickets to all the kids in attendance!

Gil and me accepting a certificate from the committee

The committee had so many activities planned for the day.  There was an opening ceremony, survivor lap, local entertainment, a cake walk in honor of the birthday theme, silent auction, bake sale and kid’s games.  The mall court was adorned in birthday decor and everyone was in the spirit (noisemakers and all)!

The event was a huge success, bringing in over $850.00 for the Camden County Relay for Life!

Mark your calendars now for the 2010 Camden County Relay for Life event at Big Surf on June 4, 2010 at 5 p.m.  Hope to see you here to have fun and support a very worthy cause with us!

The picture above shows a countdown clock that I have installed on my computer.  It even visually matches the violin desktop picture that I use right now.  I love watching the seconds count down.

Soon, the clock will show just 106 days until Big Surf’s opening Day - May 29th, to be exact.  We’re anxious and getting ready.  But there’s so much to do yet.  In fact, there’s exactly 107 days, 1 hour and 7 minutes worth of things to do.

Speaking of time, one of the things on my “to do” list is making the announcement that starting this year, Big Surf will now be open every operating day from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.  This means that we have to be ready an hour earlier than last year! 

It also means that you get to play an hour earlier!  See you at the front gates….

Missy McPheeters

Running a water park in Missouri is a curious way to earn a living, for lots of reasons.

One of the more spicy elements to the job is the fact that our success depends, more than anything else, on something wholly beyond our control.  I refer, of course, to the weather.

There’s an old saying in Missouri that if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes, but in the past few years that hasn’t done us much good.  We’ve had two of the wettest, coldest summers since records began.  We’re due a scorcher, that’s for sure.

And here’s the funny thing.  Deep in our hearts, we know that at some point over the season it’s going to rain and get yucky.  We know we’ll have to issue rainchecks to our guests and console upset kids who were looking forward to a few more hours of fun.  But still, right now, in February, I operate on the assumption or belief that we will have beautiful, sunny days for three months straight.  It takes some mental gymnastics to believe in something that you know isn’t really true, but I’ve had a lot of practice.  This leap of faith is akin to believing in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy all rolled into one.  In Alice in Wonderland the Queen of Hearts boasted about believing six impossible things before breakfast.  She should come and work for us.

Anyway, with a bit of luck we will have those three months of hot sunshine, and I’ll look back on this post, and… oh.  There I go again.

Today is the holiday of fun-filled excitement that we call Groundhog Day when all ears anxiously wait to hear the news that may just get us through these winter blues.  Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania, the great prognosticator Punxatawny Phil saw his shadow.  (For those of you who aren’t familiar, when the groundhog sees his shadow we still have another six weeks of winter; when he doesn’t, we have six weeks until spring arrives.)

Here at Big Surf, we don’t worry about winter into spring.  We only have two seasons: summer and not-summer.  Besides, Punxatawny Phil isn’t nearly as cute as the little chipmunk that plays outside my window.

Oh, by the way, if you want to know why I titled this blog “Whistle Pig” just give it a Google.

But now I’m in Missouri and, more importantly, I work at Big Surf.  Although I still don’t mind the cold, being a Surf employee makes it a little harder to get through these winter days.  I’m yearning for the sound of splashing water and the screams of kids when the wavepool announces the return of the waves with a bell that would rival any school’s in six states.  I’m anxious to see the kitchen alive with juicy, dripping hamburgers and six flavors of Dippin’ Dots out of the below zero freezer.  I can’t wait to see the kids’ faces at the gate just before we open, begging, “Come on, just a little early, please?”

But, alas, there is much work to be done before any of that can happen.  We’re making phone calls, preparing new programs, weighing options, and trying to decided on the things that we can do to improve this next season.

And then, of course, there’s the weather.  Like I said, the cold doesn’t bother me.  But I wouldn’t want to swim in it, either.

Missy McPheeters

Gil made his way to Christmas on the Square in Camdenton and visited with many people!  He made all sorts of new friends (even new animal friends at the petting zoo)! 

Mr. Camel...no, no spit

 There was music, free stuff, lots of candy, the jolly man himself and, of course, our very own dancing shark!  You can see the video on our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRP3O3RPoD0.

Sunday, Gil made his way to Breakfast with Santa hosted by the Camden County Relay for Life.  It was an extremely fun and successful event!  Fun was had by all as crafts were made, games were played and Ol’ St. Nick showed up, along with Gil!  And, to top off this awesome event, they raised over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society!

Gil and Santa

See us next Saturday at the Lake Ozark Christmas Parade!

The most important news, of course, is that our season passes are on sale.  Now through March 31st, you can purchase Surfer and Jr. Surfer season passes at $10 off the regular price and Sr. Surfer season passes are discount $5.  Don’t pass up this great deal - its the best way to enjoy Big Surf all summer.  And of course they make great Christmas gifts!

I’m gearing up to design the brochure for 2010.  This is one of my favorite projects during the winter.  The cover is just about done and I need to see about reworking the calendar page for next year’s dates.  We will have some significant changes to our operating hours this next summer so keep your eyes peeled for updates.

All of the paperwork for 2009 is just about packed up.  Things will be moved around to make room and some will be taken to permanent storage.  The park looks great and many of the plants have already been removed to make room for new ones next spring.  All of the rides have been winterized and most of the pools are already repainted.  We’re ready to batten the hatches for winter!

As for today, I’m enjoying watching about six pairs of cardinals play in the creek outside my window.  I’m also trying to figure out all of those little things that I can do this winter that I’d like to get done but don’t have enough time during the busy season. 

Now where did I put that list?

Missy McPheeters

Day after day I arrive to the park between 8 and 8:30 and notice something different each day.  Mike and Harold have been hard at work making this place look great, even with no visitors!  For those of you who have visited, you know we have the most beautiful landscaped entrance around.  During the summer it has beautiful flowers and shrubbery as well as a flowing creek that serves as home to our resident Koi.  During the winter it is still beautiful, less colorful, but still beautiful thanks to these guys.

Just the other day, they came through and trimmed our shrubs and plants.  Weeded out the creek and I do have to say….it looks marvelous out there!  Good for you, Mike and Harold, for keeping our park looking great year-round!

My first stop on Saturday was at Stone Crest Mall’s Kid’s Fun Fest.  They had games, a costume contest and tons of fun for everyone-and what a great turn-out there was!  We had everyone from ninjas to bumblebees and monsters to princesses.  We gave tickets out to the wonderful costume contest winners and I even participated in some of the games…the cookie walk was my personal favorite! 

Me with the cutest puppy in the world!

That evening I made my way to the First Baptist Church of Camdenton for their Trunk or Treat event.  It was a blast!  Everyone goes all out to decorate their cars, trucks and SUV’s.  My boss, Darin, even built his own car…to go along with their theme, of course!  We gave away a season pass to one lucky trick-or-treater and gave out tons of candy.

Darin with his family, Laura, Sam and Molly (they are the modern stone-age family)

All in all, Halloween turned out to be fun for everyone!  I am looking forward to getting out around town for some really great Christmas celebrations…so keep checking back and I will keep you posted on where I will be!

Gil Shark