Ski Sharks spending summer at Camp Onawahs

A slight breeze, lots of sunshine and the aroma of grilled food welcome the throngs of people to Smalley Park for the weekly Shawano Ski Sharks waterski show.

“This year, we are simply working on getting bigger,” said Dave Passehl, Ski Sharks president. “Our pyramids are big like last year, and our prebuilt pyramid is the largest we’ve ever done with intentions of going bigger.

“We also have a large amount of skiers that jump, including those the flip and spin, and even our adaptive skier pulls a jumper over the ramp. Our jump act has been solid all year long.”

The group performs at 6 p.m. Wednesdays now through Aug. 14.

The theme for this year is Camp Onawahs (Shawano spelled backwards), a show about what happens at summer camp.

Show directors are Carsten McHugh, Dana McHugh (Carsten’s mother) and Taya Conrad (Dana’s niece) are the 2024 show directors.

“I have been skiing since I was very little but joined the Ski Sharks three years ago,” Conrad said in a social media post. “You can find me in the opening pyramid, ballet, jump, prebuilt and end pyramid. My favorite act is either prebuilt or jump; I can’t choose.”

As in years past, show directors for the upcoming years are chosen at the end of the season in August.

“They typically have a theme in mind when they run for the position but then take the winter to develop it along with the announcing crew,” Passehl said.

Writing the script is a team effort. The show directors have the idea, and the announcing crew works with them to make it come alive, Passehl said.

“It takes many meetings over winter to get it ready, and then still needs adjusting early on in the season when we find things that do and don’t work,” he said. “Our show order doesn’t typically change much in an effort to keep our flow consistent. We try to tie the acts into a relevant part of the theme where they are within the show.”

The show directors design the costumes. Dana McHugh, one of the show directors, and her family spend the entire winter sewing the costumes.

“The costumes tie into the theme sometimes but typically are designed to be flashy and really show up on the water,” Passehl said.

The Ski Sharks are made up of about 100 members ages 3-63. About 40 are skiers with the remaining 60 or so acting as support staff.

“We were able to pick up about 10 new skiing members this off season, all that can ski and have made it into our main show already,” Passehl said. “Mick Siolka is our longest serving member. He’s been with the team around 40 years.”

The Ski Sharks officially organized in 1977.

While it’s easy to applaud the skiers, Passehl also acknowledges the support staff each week.

“We have an amazing and committed boat crew,” he said. “We have a core group of show drivers and some additional practice drivers as well. Many of them have family on the team, but some of them simply do it for the love of it.”

The Ski Sharks have four towboats, one pickup boat and a floating barge. That makes for a drive/spotting team of 11-12 people.

“As you can imagine, it takes an army on and off the water to make what we do a success,” he said.

All shows are free, but donations are appreciated. Sponsors are also regularly sought to help cover the cost to put on the shows.

“We spend a lot of time building awareness of our team and its needs and have been blessed to secure some significant partners along the way,” Passehl said. “We sell adverting in our annual program, sell a cash raffle, partner with major corporations, etc.”

About $60,000 is needed annually, which includes an insurance bill of $20,000 and fuel bills of about $8,000.

Remaining funds are used to fix and update equipment, create costumes, fix the docks and more. There is also a reserve fund used to purchase new boats and engines.

“This past year was particularly expensive with the purchase of a new boat, and (we) had to invest $8,134 to move our boat lifts to a new location in an effort to be a good neighbor,” Passehl said. “These expenses are unexpected, but fortunately, we are fiscally responsible and plan for these things.”

The Ski Sharks have invested $240,000 of its money into Smalley Park to help make it what it is today.

“We have a great partnership with the city of Shawano and the Park and Rec, but each of us have worked very hard to create this beautiful space,” he said.

All the docks at Smalley Park are owned and maintained by the waterski team. While the public is welcome to use them, they are asked to respect them as well.

“Like many parks, Smalley Park has seen its share of vandalism this summer, and we really hope we can get hold of that and help people understand that using a city park is a privilege, not a right,” Passehl said.

At Smalley Park, bleacher seating is available, but many people bring lawn chairs or blankets.

Cash-only concessions are offered onsite at each show and include bottled water, soda, sports drinks, burgers, brats and popcorn.

Raffle tickets are also available at each show.

kpasson@newmedia-wi.com