Stacy: I wrote the following before the first conference at Big Cedar. Some of it may be out of date, but will give you an idea of what Branson is like. bring lots of Stubby Steves:
For those of you who are not sure whether you want to attend the Pond Boss conference at Big Cedar Lodge please think about making the conference a vacation event for the family, or since school will already be in attendance, a get away for you and your spouse.
Big Cedar is a part of the Bass Pro Shops family of companies and is located just out side of Branson Mo. It is a fabulous resort with its own boat dock, guide service, boat rental, etc.
Branson is one of the nations top vacation locations and offers many features for all family members. I am an Illinois resident, but lived for many years in St. Louis, which is about 220 miles from Branson, and visited the Branson, Table Rock, Springfield Mo area hundreds of times. There were several years when I fished Table Rock 15 to 20 times a year.
Here are some of the features that you should consider to convince yourself or others to make the Pond Boss Conference a part of a must event in 2009.
The lodge itself has an excellent golf course and other courses are nearby. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri near the Arkansas border and offers beautiful, scenic views of Table Rock Lake and the Ozark Mountains.
Table Rock Lake, Beaver Lake, Lake Tannecomo, Truman Lake, Pomme de Terre, Stockton and Bull Shoals are all nearby and offer some of the best bass fishing in America, and, Lake Tannecomo offers excellent trout fishing. You can even fish for Trout off of a public dock in downtown Branson. Non-Resident fishing permits are less than $10.00 ($7.00 I think) per day;
Bass Pro Shops has a shop in Branson with an emphasis on trout fishing;
Bass Pro Shops world headquarters is located about 50 miles from Branson, in Springfield MO. If you are driving to the conference from the north or east, you pass within four miles of the store just off of Highway 65 and Interstate 44. This Bass Pro Shop is by far the largest shop in their chain, and the home to one of the finest outdoor museums in the country. I made a quick tour of the museum last year and left after four hours with only seeing about ¾ of it;
Branson is famous for live country music shows. Just Google Branson shows for a list, but it includes permanent theaters for Mickey Gilley, Jim Stafford, the Baldknobbers, The Presley Family and many others. Dick Clark’s American Bandstand theater, The Lawrence Welk Theater and others feature other styles of music. Groups and performers like The Oak Ridge Boys, Andy Williams, Mel Tillis, Pam Tillis, Fabian, The Coasters, Bobby Vee and countless others make frequent appearances in Branson’s theaters.
Silver Dollar City is a theme park that is consistently recognized as one of the most family oriented parks in America.
The School Of The Ozarks, just a few miles from the lodge has an outstanding Americana museum. It hosts a huge collection of firearms and also one of the best big game taxidermy anywhere. It even has the car the Beverly Hillbillies used to “move away from here to Beverly Hills.”
Tracker Boats are made locally and it is a great place to pick up a new boat and save shipping charges.
The area has several outlet malls, and dozens of craft and antique shops.
