Although temperatures are hovering around the freezing mark and many would prefer to stay in by the fire, Walkerton Kinsmen have outdoor sports on the brain.
Over the first weekend in June (June 4-6) the club will host its first Midwestern Ontario Sportsmen’s Show.
Hundreds of vendors exhibiting sporting and recreational goods for pastimes such as boating, fishing, hunting, golfing, snowmobiling, camping, canoeing, kayaking, and more will be set up at the Walkerton Community Centre and Agricultural Buildings.
In the community centre and agricultural buildings there is space for more than 140 booths for vendors, not to mention the outdoor space around the buildings that will also be available for exhibitions and displays.
The majority of indoor booths will be located in the community centre and the largest agricultural building, but past-president Brian Nogler said they are hoping to use all the buildings. “We have all of the buildings down there booked, and as we go along we’ll be allocating certain functions in each of them, whether it be for exhibitors, demonstrations or talks”.
The club intends on making the show an annual event and it will represent a ‘legacy project’ for the club – something they’ve been developing for a long time.
“We have been searching for what we call a legacy project for a number of years,” Nogler said, “Over the past year- and-a-half we narrowed down the attributes we wanted to highlight in Midwestern Ontario and we eventually settled on sporting and recreation.”
He said the diverse topographical features of the Bruce Peninsula make it ideal for recreation.
“If you take a look at the geographical makeup of Midwestern Ontario, it’s comprised of farmland, hilly regions, forests, Georgian Bay and Lake Huron; it lends itself naturally to sporting and recreation.”
In working towards the Sportsmen’s Show event, the Kinsmen divided into a number of committees. Nogler and current club president Steve Westman represented the Sponsorship and Grant Committee for the event and worked on applying for the Trillium grant.
“We did a lot of legwork and research on what grant money we could apply for and what we’re allowed to use the grant money for,” he said.
Those efforts paid off last week with the announcement that they will receive a $25,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell presented a mock cheque to the club. “The tourism sector is essential to the success of the Bruce County economy and it’s important to support events like the Midwestern Ontario Sportsmen’s Show,” she said at the news conference.
Westman appreciated the support from MPP Mitchell and the Trillium Foundation. “This will help get our show up and running,” he said.  
It may be called the Sportsmen’s Show, but Nogler said will be for the whole family. “It’s not gong to be something that will be enjoyed just by men. There will be all kinds of activities for men, women, and families.”
The show also won’t be limited to the area in and around the community centre complex.
“Right now we’re in talks with a couple organizations that want to do fly fishing demonstrations and guided tours on the Saugeen River,” he said, “The local rod and gun club will also be having an open house with some target shooting in the area.”
A variety of booth sizes for exhibitors are available, and the club has already booked some of the larger booths for hunting and fishing vendors. “We’ve got booths sold in quite a few categories,” he said.
A man-made fishing pond is another attraction Nogler hopes will be present at the show, “though we’re not sure whether it will be indoor or outdoor,” he said, “The types of displays are only limited by the imaginations of the exhibitors. If someone has an idea, they can tell us about it and we will try and accomodate them.”
A boating clinic that will allow attendees to walk away from the show with their boating licence is also scheduled to take place. “The booth will have a class section, an exam section, and a general information section,” Nogler said, “They’ll train you and you’ll be able to walk away with your boating licence.”
One of the hardest parts about planning the event for the club was trying to avoid promoting the event as specific to any one season.
“We want people active in all seasons participating,” Nogler said.
The Kinsmen are still accepting sponsors for the event at both the gold ($3,000) and silver ($1,500) levels.
The funds that the Kinsmen club raises will go back into the community.
Besides the Sportsmen’s Show, 2010 also represents the Kinsmen Club’s 75th anniversary.
Nogler, who has been a member of the club for 13 years, said that holding their first annual Sportsmen’s Show during their 75th anniversary was not exactly planned, “but it’s cartainly a bonus.”
More information on the show can be found on the Kinsmen Club’s Web site at www.sportsmenshow.ca.