Tomfoolery Foundation, Inc., an Arkansas-based nonprofit, has announced that the fifth annual Great Southern Stone Skipping Championship will be held on Saturday, September 3, at Lakewood Lake #1 in North Little Rock. This will be the first time the annual fund-raising competition has been held since 2019, and the first time it has been in Central Arkansas.
The entry fee for the competition is $10, and cash prizes will be awarded to the top three finishers in the men’s and women’s flights (13-years-old and over) and the youth flight (12-years-old and younger). Judging will be performed by “volunteer military veterans with keen eyesight,” according to the announcement. Spectating is free and there will be event t-shirts available for purchase.
“We encourage families to bring out their lawn chairs and blankets and coolers (no glass) to enjoy the fun before they hit the lakes and swimming pools for the traditional closing weekend of the summer,” said Gregg Petersen, event co-founder.
In the first three years of the competition, northerns and past-and-present stone skipping world-record holders, Kurt “Mountain Man” Steiner and the late Russ “Rock Bottom” Byars, bested all other regional competitors to win the championships with high skips of between 24 and 33 skips. In 2019, however, the event had an “All-Arkansas” trifecta, with all three winners being Natural State natives.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Arkansas Foodbank.
Event Schedule
- 10:00 a.m. Welcome, Pledge of Allegiance, & Clinic and Warm Ups
- 10:15 a.m. Open Competitive Skipping – first come, first skip
- 10:45 a.m. Skip Off
- Youth Flight Finalists (top five from Open Competitive Skipping competition)
- Women’s Flight Finalists (top five from Open Competitive Skipping competition)
- Men’s Flight Finalists (top five from Open Competitive Skipping competition)
- 11:15 a.m. Recognition of Event Sponsors and Presentation of Awards
For more information about the Great Southern Stone Skipping Championships, click here, and for more information regarding the Arkansas Foodbank, visit its website.
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