INAUGURAL “LAKE ERIE BOAT WEEK” EVENT POSTPONED UNTIL 2010

Port Clinton, OH (July 1, 2009) – The inaugural “Lake Erie Boat Week” event, scheduled for September 1-6, 2009, in and around Port Clinton, Ohio, has officially been postponed until the summer of 2010.

“There were numerous factors that went into my decision to postpone ‘Lake Erie Boat Week’ this year,” stated Janie Vogel, Event Director for ‘Lake Erie Boat Week.’ “I worked tirelessly to try to pull off a one-of-a-kind tourist event for the community and region that would have brought approximately $5-$10 million to the local economy – in about six months. I was unbelievably close to completing the final stages of event preparation after only four months of work on the event in that location, but the condition of the economy right now played a part in why the event didn’t materialize for Port Clinton in 2009. Unfortunately, the difficult decision had to be made to postpone the inaugural ‘Lake Erie Boat Week’ until next year.”

Details are already being addressed to continue “Lake Erie Boat Week” in 2010. The www.LakeErieBoatWeek.com official event site will remain active throughout the coming year, with updates on progress for next year’s event – including dates and location - posted soon.

Vogel is extremely grateful for the support she received throughout these past months, stating, “I want to thank so many people who got behind my efforts in producing ‘Lake Erie Boat Week,’ and hope they will continue to support me in planning for the 2010 event.”

This is very unfortunate to say the least to lose another site on this side of the circuit, from all accounts it sounded like great venue and fun town.

I hope things improve for next year and you can pull it off, and I do feel you pain. There is nothing worse than spending 5hrs on the phone trying to convince a manufacture of 50,000.00 dollar engines to buy a 250.dollar ad in the event program.. It’s frustrating, very frustrating.

Rick, makes a very good point regarding fundrasing. Take a look at who IS NOT in the race programs. Surfice it to say, we have contacted nearly everyone who is anyone in the performance boat industry for support. As little as $250, and we have been told "we are broke". Manufacturers of million dollar boats and hundred thousand dollar power packages have said they don't have $250. These companies are within one tank of gas from our site too!

If those of us that enjoy and or benefit from these types of powerboat events won't support them who will?

Take a close look at who is missing from your next race program.

I'm sorry to hear the news, that the Port Clinton Race has been cancelled. The time and effort that it takes to put on an Offshore Powerboat Race is tremendous and especially with the poor economy. We tried to put an Offshore Powerboat Race for 2009 in Windsor, Ontario but we were faced with the same challenges as everyone else, we couldn't get sponsor's. The Corporations didn't realize the full economic potential that an Offshore Powerboat Race could of had on the City of Windsor and the City of Detroit and the exposure they would have gotten but they also didn't have the money. There could of been an International event on the Detroit River that would of brought in millions to both city's and surrounding areas and expose race fans to the sport of Offshore Powerboat Racing, as there are no Offshore Powerboat Races in Canada. With the sorry state of both countries economy's, we tried to get money for the event from the city. I had met with the Mayor of the City of Windsor who wanted a letter from the race organization we were dealing with. The Mayor wanted to know what the race would have done for the city and what media coverage the race would bring to Windsor and then he would set up a meeting, once he received the letter. Unfortunately our repeated request for a letter from the Offshore Race Association never came and repeated calls, were never returned, no explanation, what so ever, couldn't believe it. During this time our Mayor was looking for Corporate sponsors for the Red Bull Races and we had asked for him to also, use his influence to also look for corporate sponsors for us, for the Offshore Powerboat Race. Well after our meeting with Mayor and waiting for the letter from the race org. which never came. We read in the local Newspaper and on our local TV News Stations, that the Ontario Government, gave the City of Windsor a cheque for 3.2 million dollars to put on the Red Bull Air Race. Who knows what we could of gotten if we had that letter from the org., before they pulled the rug from under us and left us standing there looking like idiots after all the time we had spent trying to get this race on the Detroit River. Maybe we could of gotten the .2 of the 3.2 million the City got for the Red Bull Race, for the 2009 Offshore Powerboat Race. Now the Government wants the Red Bull Races back again and is meeting with them. This could of been what Offshore Powerboat Racing has been looking for for years but we will never know now. I feel your disappointment and the loss of all the work that you did to try and bring this event to Port Clinton. Good luck in 2010.

Kudos to Janie Vogel, please don't look at this as a loss, keep your momentum going and use it for next year. Everything my friends have just stated is exactly right. Hope fully next year will bring us a little relief from this tough economy. My comittee has struggled this year to keep our event going, fortunatly we had supporters that saw the value from the previous years. Good luck, Louie



PS Rick can you give me a call again I told Dean I would like to take an add in your program.

Louie,
I'll call you later today.. My work computer is infected with a bug that needs to be removed before I do anything else this morning.

Hey Rick maybe you should have a commenorative cup as well

may be it is those pictures you are downloading.