A Time Capsule Revisiting the 1989 Tulsa Boat Show!

Our entire family has a lot of great memories associated with the founding of the Grand River Chronicle Newspaper….now known as the Chronicle of Grand Lake. Saint Paddy’s Day, 1988, marked the very first issue of the publication. We had little knowledge of how to run a newspaper, much less any realization the Tulsa Boat, Sport & Travel Show had concluded a short six weeks earlier. We had not a clue what an important role one event would play in the future of our fledgling publication. To say our first year was a struggle, would be a massive understatement, as we clawed to stay afloat. And as the temperatures of fall cooled, so did our advertising sales, which at best had been meager even in the summer months. As Christmas approached, there was little cheer to be found around our office location. The coming of spring seemed to be further away than we perceived our diminishing capital could possibly take us…but just about then, a glimmer of light appeared, just barely, at the end of the tunnel. Each week, I would check out Byron Hayes’ Grand Lake publications, The South Grand Laker and The Waterfront, and be amazed at the number of ads they contained for the time of the year. I was perusing an issue, and compiling a list of possible people to hound for an ad, which just might keep our humble ship afloat, when there it was…..An ad jumped out at me to reserve your space now in The Grand Lake Waterfront’s Boat Show edition. It hit me like a rock…What a novel and perhaps business saving idea. A short time later our first boat show adventure was on the drawing board. Thanks to many of you who are still around today, it was, at least by our standards, a whopping 32 page success. It not only represented our largest publication ever, but we had even sold enough space to venture into spot color for the very first time. The front page was a beautiful presentation of the Duck Creek Fireworks Show in breathtaking black and white, but the headline, proclaiming Grand Lake, “Oklahoma’s Vacation Destination,” jumped off the page in vivid blue ink. Man, we didn’t think it could get much better than this. We arrived at the show for VIP night with our heads held high and our chests stuck out as we anticipated the reaction from some of our critics to our never seen before work of art. The sucking sound, which few seemed to notice on that particular Monday night, was coming from yours truly when I saw The Grand Lake Waterfront in full living color. Russ Hogan’s Grandiose Tour Boat dominated the front page of the publication in eye-stopping maroon sails flowing in the Grand Lake breeze. This boat show rookie thought surely this had to be the worst moment the show could possibly offer, but trust me there was more to come. We were sharing a booth with legendary Grand Lakers Jerry and Bobbi Henson of Dripping Springs Marina fame, in some obscure location, far away from the big boats and the Grand Lake action on the upper level of what is now the QucikTrip Exposition Center. We spent our time force-feeding our papers to anyone who had lost their way and wandered by our location.. We only had two other distribution points for the whole joint, and since we only owned two wire racks we located them at what we felt were the highest traffic locations. And in spite of a lack of name recognition, things were going well. That was until Wednesday night when we returned to the lake for a night off. When we returned the next day, we were dismayed to find 50% of our racks, that is as in the number one, had been returned to our booth. Our booth mates informed us that publisher extraordinaire, Byron Hayes, had returned the rack to our booth with a message reportedly from his biggest advertisers. It seemed, at least according to this self appointed representative from the newspaper police, our publication wasn’t welcome in or around this advertiser’s space, which will remain anonymous. ‘Ol Sarge just stood there waiting for the impending explosion from a fellow jarhead. It was like a dagger to the heart, but as the deodorant commercial use to proclaim, “Never, never let ‘em see you sweat.” So we quickly moved the out-of-commission 50% of our distribution resources and commenced to press on. For the remainder of that 1989 boat show, we spent our time introducing ourselves and our publication to potential advertisers and making some good friends along the way. Shirley and Bill Webb, the founders of Webbcraft Boats in Collinsville, Oklahoma, toasted us with a Margarita and eventually became our first full page advertisers. Later, our investigative skills would uncover the fact they would toast anybody with a Margarita who happened by. Many others showed interest in this new Grand Lake marketing tool, and in spite of the emotional distress of the whole ordeal, and without ever throwing a punch at our distracters, The Grand River Chronicle was off and running. Following that 1989 boat show, things seemed to start happening for our publication in rapid fire order. Soon, the famed Duck Creek Cartel was even starting to warm up to the new kid on the pond. Not long after that, Bob Prince and South Grand Realty became our first real estate advertiser willing to take a gamble on the newest Grand Lake publication….And as they say, “The rest is history.” Unbelievably, this past week was the 21st anniversary of that boat show adventure which changed our lives forever and was the catalyst in launching a publication with a life of its own. The Tulsa, Boat, Sport & Travel Show has never had a shortage of critics, but count me as a huge supporter due to the role it played in the launching of what is known today as The Chronicle of Grand Lake. And I would be stunned if there are not a number of other Grand Lake businesses with similar accounts of how they got their start. As I look back on that first boat show experience, I don’t have a clue why show managers Fred and Randy Chrisman even gave us the time of day, but they did and I’ll never forget that. Over the years, the event has become more and more a part of the Grand Lake Master Marketing Plan. The presence of Grand Lake’s large contingent of boat dealers, developers, Realtors, resort operators, and others are there for a reason. There is still no better way to reach the largest number of people in the shortest period of time with the greatest chance for positive results in a festival-like atmosphere. For the most part, Grand Lakers never met a party they didn’t like….and if you can promote your business and products along the way it’s even better. See Ya’ Around the Pond!