Iowa Reunion Club

The Iowa Reunion Club, or the IRC as it is known to both the members and to lake area residents, is a club for former Iowans, whether they were born and raised in Iowa or just resided there for a period of time, that now live on or at the Lake Of The Ozarks. Additionally, present Iowans that live at the Lake on a part time basis are welcome and encouraged to join and participate in the club activities and events.

The Iowa Reunion Club was conceived of and founded by Bil Cooper in 1995 while eating dinner on the Lake with a group of friends, all former Iowans living full time on the Lake Of The Ozarks. That was the beginning of the Iowa Reunion Club, with informal activities and events taking place during that first year. As the IRC became so popular on the lake, the first formal event sponsored by the IRC was the 1st Annual Iowa Reunion Dinner, held on Saturday, January 13, 1996. Over 165 former Iowans attended this event. The IRC's first year of a dues paying membership started in 1996, and also saw the IRC as the fastest growing club on the Lake Of The Ozarks. By 1997, the IRC had become known as one of the largest, if not the largest, clubs on the Lake Of The Ozarks with over 360 members that year. IRC Memberships are renewed on January 1st of each year.

The Iowa Reunion Club each year sponsors and hosts six annual events for the current members. The present events sponsored by the IRC include the IRC Lake PizzaFest, held in February and is our kick-off event of each year. That event is followed by the club's flagship event of the year, the Annual Iowa Reunion Dinner, which is held in mid April. Next up is the IRC LakeFest, held in early June, a fun event at a lakeside restaurant and held out on their decks over looking the lake. We then have our fun and popular Regatta & RegattaQue, which is held in September of each year and featuring a boat trip to Ha Ha Tonka that includes a potluck picnic for the members at the lake's edge and "yard games" for the IRC members to participate in. The club's popular Fall event called Iowactoberfeast is held in October, of course. The final event of each year is our IRC Christmas Dinner - Christmas On The Lake, held annually in December to celebrate Christmas together on the Lake. Additionally, the Iowa Reunion Club hosts several "IRC Special Events" throughout the year. The Iowa Reunion Club was one of the early organizations to have an internet web site after the advent of the World Wide Web, and has maintained a club web site on the internet since 1996.

The Iowa Reunion Club operates IRC OnLine and the IRC NewsNetwork, which includes maintaining this web site with pages such as Iowa Reunion Club Membership information that features IRC OnLine Membership Forms, Current and Coming Events information, both the IRC Event Photo Album and the IRC Archive Photo Albums, descriptions of each event, an IRC Media Archive, and the only known MIDI music version of the Iowa Corn Song, including the history and lyrics of this popular state song. The Iowa Reunion Club publishes the IRC Newspaper for the members, and operates an IRC E-Mail Update Service aptly named IRC OnLine. The Iowa Reunion Club has not only become one of the largest clubs on the Lake, but one of the most known and visible organizations at the Lake. Many of the Lake area newspapers and media outlets feature news articles and stories about the club and IRC events. The club has produced the IRC Boat Flags, the IRC CookBook, and the IRC Decal.

An IRC membership is $10.00 per year for a household and is valid for the current calendar year as indicated on the IRC membership form. An IRC membership for a household consists of either a couple or an individual. An IRC membership entitles you to participate in any or all of the IRC sponsored events, receive the IRC Decal and the IRC Newspapers. The Iowa Reunion Club memberships are renewed on January 1st of each year and valid for that calendar year.