eWebtricity

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Emerald Coast Foundations

4th ANNUAL BOAT WEEK August 12 – 20, 2006 and
14th ANNUAL POKER RUN August 19, 2006

FORT WALTON BEACH, FL, June 1, 2006 – The Emerald Coast Foundation (ECF)
announces its upcoming calendar of events for the 4th Annual Boat Week and the 14th Annual
Emerald Coast Poker Run, sponsored in part by the Emerald Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau,
Inc. The Grand Prize for this year’s Poker Run is a 2006 Convertible Mustang V-6 made possible
by Gary Smith Ford.

Boat Week is a weeklong celebration of boating, with the highlight event being the Emerald
Coast Poker Run. The activities were designed for participation and enjoyment of our local
community and all our area visitors!

Saturday Aug 19 – “THE BIG ONE” Poker run –10 Stops from Pensacola to Bluewater Bay
Sunday Aug. 20 – Smoke on the Water at Marler Park
Event times and dates subject to change.

The Emerald Coast Poker Run, the largest poker run in the United States, is ECF’s flagship
event and ECF’s primary fundraiser. The Emerald Coast Poker Run has been voted “the best Poker
Run in the United States” by Power Boat Magazine for two years in a row (April 2004/2005
Issues). The event brings together locals as well as recreational boaters from all over the country to
boat across Northwest Florida’s emerald green waters. The day begins with breakfast; mid-morning
through afternoon is spent boating to our 10 poker run stops. Each stop offers a festival event and
spectators are encouraged to stop by one of the stops to enjoy the greatest spectacle in power
boating in the United States. The Poker Run finale happens at the Emerald Coast Conference
Center on Okaloosa Island with a large, casino-like party held in the evening.

Whether you have a boat or not, Boat Week and the Poker Run will give you an up close
and personal look at boats of all types and various boating activities.

For details about the 14th Annual Emerald Coast Poker Run and Boat Week or for
information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Elizabeth Parman at 850-685-9300 or visit
www.emeraldcoastpokerrun.com.

About Emerald Coast Foundation
ECF, established in September 2002, is a 501 (c) (3) a non-profit organization that is
committed to enriching the lives of children by supporting existing youth groups. Its sole purpose is
to “Invest in Youth” in Northwest Florida. ECF hosts three annual events - - Beach Ball, held each
spring and Boat Week and the Emerald Coast Poker Run, held each summer. Monies raised from
these events are dispersed throughout the year in the form of grants to support non-profit children’s
programs. Since 1993, the Emerald Coast Poker Run, now part of the Emerald Coast Foundation
has awarded over $600,000 to local youth non-profit organizations. In 2004, the following
organizations received financial support from ECF: Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast,
Emerald Coast, Eleanor J. Johnson Youth Center, Make-A-Wish, A Family’s Future, Inc. (formerly
Mom’s House), the Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranches, Okaloosa Walton Child Care Services, Inc.
Emerald Coast Marine Institute, Horizons of Okaloosa County, Inc. Healthy Start Community
Coalition of Okaloosa-Walton Counties, Inc. and Okaloosa County Comprehensive Head Start.

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ECF Media Contact: Elizabeth Parman, Phone: 850-685-9300
Fax: 850-650-2246

Address:
Emerald Coast Foundation
P.O. Box 1208
Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549

Email: [email protected]