Spring is on the Way

30th Annual Boat Show Growing To Meet Demand

OCEAN CITY -- The Seaside Boat Show, sponsored by the Ocean City-Berlin Optimist Club, turns 30 this year and a variety of factors have teamed to likely make this year’s event the biggest and best ever.

For the last 29 years, the annual boat show has helped mark a turning point in the winter season for many visitors to the resort and its hearty year-round residents and this year should be no different. Coupled with the three-day President’s Day weekend with Valentine’s Day in the mix, the boat show is a jumping off point for many area businesses closed for the winter and provides a glimpse of better days to come.

In the past, the Seaside Boat Show has battled tough winter weather and a sagging economy, and those factors could still come into play this weekend, but the 30^th annual event has so much going for it this year more than ever that no obstacles appear too large to overcome. For one thing, the expansion of the host facility, the Roland E. Powell Convention Center, will provide an additional 24,000 square feet of exhibit space.

“This will be the largest one over,” said the Ocean City-Berlin Optimist spokesman Charles Smith this week. “The old stage on the second floor is gone and the first-floor space has been expanded so we have an extra 24,000 square feet to work with. For several years, we’ve had a long waiting list of vendors who want to come to the boat show and we’ll be able to accommodate them, and the vendors we already have certainly won’t mind having extra space.”

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