Alena was his name as he won the annual Miss Riverbottom Festival a year ago in East Peoria.

Alena, or Allen Stoudt, is a member of the Starved Rock Yacht Club, a private club that won the privilege of hosting this year's festival on its own grounds and during its 75th anniversary.

Those grounds are different today than they were 75 years ago, when the club first met on a barge under the Ottawa bridge, where the Fox and Illinois rivers meet, to promote the idea of boating.

The club, built on volunteerism and commitment, caters to larger boats from across the state. Some other private boating clubs in the state only allow members to come from within a certain radius, said Scott Robertson, club commodore.

As membership grew, the club left the barge for a clubhouse on city-owned land on the north side of Ottawa until the 1980s, when it was forced to take down the clubhouse after losing a court battle and some of its members. The club finally purchased its own land and clubhouse, now looking out at Starved Rock State Park.

Its now-134 members come from such places as Marseilles, Peru, Naperville and Chicago, and help with the club's various functions.

Some of these functions include the River Sweep, Ron Robb's Special People's Cruise and this year's Miss Riverbottom Festival, which is co-hosted by the Illinois River Basin Boating Association.

Robertson and club member Chris Mason agree the Special People's Cruise every June is the biggest function the club puts on for charity.

"We dedicate a day to providing boat rides to special needs people who might not otherwise be able to experience something like that," Mason said.

Robertson said about 80 percent of the members volunteer for the function, which usually includes hundreds of guests from different organizations.

"It's a big day for us to give back to some of the people in the area," Robertson said.

This September, the club will participate in the River Sweep, a cleanup event sponsored by the Illinois lieutenant governor. SRYC members and other boating clubs walk the Illinois River shoreline and pick up debris, Robertson said.

The club doesn't limit its time to scheduled events. When the Illinois Valley flooded in September, Robertson said some of the boaters were eager to help in any way they could.

"We offered our services during the flood," he said. "We did whatever we would to help them. We work together with anyone in the area to our fullest potential."

Robertson, Mason and other club members will be working together with the IRBBA to put on the Miss Riverbottom Festival, which coincides with the club's 75th anniversary.

The first festival was at the Henry Yacht Club in Henry in 1989.

For the competition, members from various boating clubs in the state dress up as women and compete in different categories, similar to a beauty pageant... only for men... dressed as women.

The categories include a choreographed routine, a talent portion that includes playing an instrument or doing a dance and a swimsuit and night gown competition.

Five judges, three from the IRBBA and two local people, judge the competition and make sure the event is family-friendly. They also look to see if the contestants are getting the crowd more involved.

The winner of each festival takes home a trophy and their club is then in charge of hosting the following year's festival and coming up with a theme.

The SRYC are chose "Island Girl" as the Miss Riverbottom theme this year. Robertson said the club is happy to host the festival whenever possible because it brings in a lot of revenue.

"Every club is trying to win with their heart and soul," Robertson said. "It's coveted. It's a big-time deal."

The festival is open to the public and will feature different events all weekend. Boats and motor homes will start rolling in Wednesday, and Thursday night will feature a DJ. On Friday, four or five vendors will serve food throughout the day while the Steve Sharp Band will perform at night.

Throughout Saturday, there will be music while the Riverbottom contestants get ready to compete. That night, another local band, Road Angel, will perform.

The club expects about 2,000 to 3,000 people in attendance.

Mason hopes a lot of the community comes out to the festival and said one of the club's goals is to keep being an integral part of the Ottawa community.

"The goal is to really keep this the premier club on the Illinois River," he said. "People take a great amount of pride in being a part of this club, keeping it neat, making it safe, keeping it a vital part of the community."

For more information on the weekend's events, visit www.starvedrockyachtclub.org.

Thursday:DJ at night

Friday: Steve Sharp Band performance

Saturday: Miss Riverbottom Festival, Road Angel performance