This weekend our community is welcoming some 1,000 water skiers for the Midwest Regional Show Ski Tournament. It’s the first time Albert Lea has hosted a tournament like this. We’re excited to have them here with us to celebrate our sesquicentennial.

We urge everyone to give them a big Albert Lea welcome &045; not only in the form of helping anyone who may stop and ask directions, but also by attending all or part of the tournament.

This is a great weekend of free entertainment. There will be individual swivel ski, strap doubles and jump team competitions, as well as the team competition. Nine teams from Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota will be here on Edgewater Bay of Fountain Lake to put their best show forward. Two national champions and others who have placed in the top 10 in national tournaments will be here. In short, these are some of the best water ski show teams around.

You don’t have to know much about water skiing to enjoy the tournament. Some of the stunts are amazing, others are beautiful, still others are funny, and the skits that accompany them are always entertaining. If you’ve ever been to a water ski show, you know what we’re talking about.

If you haven’t, you’d better come out and see for yourself.