A few weeks back during a Tuesday afternoon lunch at the Redhead Lakeside Grill in Osage Beach, Mo., one of my more-cynical friends made a predictably snarky comment when another friend at the table mentioned that Performance Boat Center charges no entry fee for its events.
“Yeah, but look at all the money they make on all the other things—gas and shirts and drinks and food— while all these people are here,” he said.
I laughed hard enough to almost spit out my iced tea.
“No good deed goes unpunished,” I said, and shrugged.
Performance Boat Center events have been nonstop this season. Image by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Forget for a moment that Performance Boat Center and Redhead Lakeside Grill and Yacht Club operate separately. Without question, marketing drives the Cigarette, MTI, Performance Powerboats and Sunsation dealership’s in-house produced events, which in addition to charging no entry fees typically include goodie bags for participants and breakfast in the Performance Boat Center showroom for them and their guests.
But giving back also creates community and loyalty, which is a coveted goal of any effective marketing program. Win-win, I say.
Working ungodly early this morning on last weekend’s Sunny Showdown coverage triggered that memory. And it reminded me that the 2026 event-season has been the biggest in the dealership’s 15-year history.
The fun started with Spring Open House in April and moved on to the Spring Fun Run the following month. The Cigarette Rendezvous and Powered by Performance Invitational followed on the same weekend in June. Rebranded as the Outboard River Run for its new destinations, the former Outboard Fun Run happened in July.
Boasting its biggest turnout ever, the longstanding Performance Boat Center Shootout celebration happened once again on Thursday night during the 38th annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in late August.
Building off the dealership’s trio of monthly Sunny Sunday happenings this summer, the inaugural Sunny Showdown was—as noted above—was last weekend.
And Performance Boat Center isn’t done yet. Its September 25-27 Fall Open House will be followed by its October 3 Fall Fun Run.
As with all the dealership’s events, neither has an entry fee.
No good deed goes unpunished.