The Aroostook Sportsman Association will welcome spring with one of Maine’s largest outdoors expos this weekend.
The Spring Sportsman’s Show, slated for Friday and Saturday at The Forum in Presque Isle, will welcome vendors from across Maine and activities to fuel interest in the outdoors.
The event typically draws about 4,000 people and is the primary fundraiser for the association, which is a nonprofit arm of the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club. Proceeds support club facilities and expenses, but also enable community outreach such as teaching kids about the outdoors and sending them to summer camps, organizers said.
“It helps keep the fish and game club open, but the passion I’ve zeroed in on is getting youth into the outdoors with a strong theme of conservation,” said Candace Madill, Aroostook Sportsman Association board member and show co-director. “I believe getting them in the outdoors is good for them, and hopefully leads to positive experiences they can draw on for a lifetime.”
The show is the third largest of the state’s outdoors expositions, topped only by the State of Maine Sportsman’s Show in Augusta and the Eastern Maine Sportsmen’s Show in Orono. Both took place in March.
For more than 20 years, the Spring Sportsman’s Show filled Gentile Hall at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, but outgrew that space. The event moved to The Forum two years ago, and last year drew more than 80 vendors — the most in recent history.
Vendors will display such items as ATVs, outdoor gear and artisan products, including Bootleg Jerky of Columbia. Activities for kids will include laser shooting, pellet gun target practice, an air bow-and-arrow range and, new this year, a simulated skeet and trap station. Instructors will teach safe practices, Madill said.
But the perpetual favorite, which draws a steady stream of young anglers, is the pond where kids can actually catch fish.
“The most favorite part for a lot of the kids and families is the trout pond,” Madill said. “The fish are supplied by the Mi’kmaq trout hatchery [in Caribou]. They’ll be there on site as well. Huge kudos to them for their involvement.”
Another returning favorite is Allagash Tails, where author Tim Caverly will speak about his adventures in the North Maine Woods, Madill said.
Other vendors will include the Maine Trappers Association, Atlantic Salmon for Northern Maine, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, Shriners, various sporting camps, Ride for a Cure and United Bikers of Maine.
The Maine Forest Service and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will be present with information for those seeking careers in the outdoors, Madill said.
Several Presque Isle Fish and Game members set up the fish pond Thursday at The Forum, including club and Aroostook Sportsman Association President Todd Weeks.
Presque Isle Fire Department crews will fill the pond with water on Friday, and then on Saturday Mi’kmaq Farms staff will bring in about 200 trout, Weeks said. Anglers will catch and release their fish.
The club has more than 300 members and depends on volunteers and fundraising, he said. But finding enough helping hands can be a challenge, and the group welcomes new people. Meetings are held the last Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m. at the club’s Parsons Road headquarters.
Besides the Sportsman’s Show, an annual gun expo, hunters breakfast and weekend skeet shooting also generate revenue, according to Weeks. Proceeds help fund club operations and youth camping and fishing programs.
“We usually focus on kids that can’t really afford to go to camp,” he said. “We also help the Elks with the Hooked on Fishing event, and we purchase a lifetime hunting and fishing license for the one that catches the biggest fish.”
Kids typically attend summer camp programs at Lugdon Lodge in Eagle Lake and the University of Maine 4-H camps and learning centers at Bryant Pond and Greenland Point in Princeton, club member Curt Lewin said.
Sending one child to camp costs about $200, according to the Aroostook Sportsman Association. The camps promote wildlife conservation and teach kids about protecting the environment, while getting them outside and away from screens.
Promoting outdoor education is a particular passion for Madill.
“I’ve studied criminal justice and psychology, and my son was a Boy Scout, so I really believe in doing these kinds of activities with children,” she said. “The biggest thing is to do these things safely and not ruin our outdoors. We have to save it for future generations.”
The Spring Sportsman’s Show will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 12. Admission is $8 per person, free to kids 10 and under.
