70th annual sportsmen's show draws diverse crowd

ORONO, Maine, Mar 17, 2008 -- Hundreds of Mainers made the best of an overcast weekend by spending time at the 70th annual Eastern Maine Sportsmen's Show in the field house at the University of Maine in Orono.

By 10 a.m. Saturday the cavernous space already was crowded. The air was thick with the scent of boot grease, gun oil, wet dogs and smoky beef jerky. More than 180 booths were set up, marketing everything from guided bear hunts in Atlantic Canada to sweet-smelling scented soaps milled in Scarborough.

According to Jay Munson, president of the Penobscot County Conservation Association and co-chairman of the annual event, the show attracts a diverse crowd. While it traditionally has highlighted outdoor sports such as hunting, trapping and fishing, recent years have seen growing attendance by kayakers, cross-country skiers, backpackers and other "nonconsumptive" users of Maine's natural resources, he said.

"We're talking about expanding and diversifying," Munson said, including making a concerted effort to bring in more vendors and activities to interest women, families and "the kayak crowd."

Meanwhile, everyone seemed to be having a fine time.

Jerome Moores of Dexter was waiting patiently while his 8-year-old son, Kody, tried his hand at the pellet gun range.

"We come from a long line of hunters," Moores said. Bringing Kody to the show each year helps the boy understand responsible hunting practices and stewardship issues, he said.

Moores said he always finds the show informative. "I'm looking for a bass boat," he said, glancing over at the many sleek craft on display nearby. "I don't know that I'll buy anything today, but I'll see what's available."

Registered Maine Guide Dan Pelletier of Alton was staffing the Old Town Canoe display, which featured a gleaming cedar-rib canoe. Pelletier noted that the lovely old-style craft attracted a lot of attention to the company's display, but that "there's been a big shift. There's a lot more interest in kayaks now."

Passer-by Bill Barron of Hampden stopped on cue to stroke the canoe's clear fiberglass hull. "That's so nice to see," he remarked. "You just don't see that kind of craftsmanship very often anymore."

Barron said his grandchildren enjoy taking the family's vintage Old Town wood-and-canvas canoe out on Phillips Lake, known as Lucerne Lake, in Dedham in the summers. The boat has been part of the family for more than 50 years, he said.

While the pellet gun range and the Old Town Canoe display are old standbys, there were a number of new vendors at this year's show. Peter Seehusen of Hampden hoped to attract new customers to his growing business, Wicked Whitetails. Pointing to trays of bright green ryegrass, clover and chicory, Seehusen said he consults with commercial and private landowners who want their properties to support healthier populations of deer.

"I sell as much to nonhunters as to hunters," he said. "Some people just want to help the deer, especially after a winter like this one."

Charles Ouillette had set up a small display of scented soaps, which he makes at his home in Scarborough. The pretty herb-flecked soaps wafting lavender and lemongrass seemed a bit out of context, he admitted, surrounded by otter pelts and turkey calls.

"It's not really my crowd," Ouillette said. "Not too many men buy soap."

Ouillette might have been more comfortable out in the adjoining room, where Pauline Howard and her daughter Tammi were attracting a lot of interest in homemade jams, syrups and other condiments from their Barefoot Kitchen in Winthrop. Mostly people were enjoying the free samples, Howard said, but she expected sales would pick up later in the day.

"People buy at the end of the day so they don't have to carry it around with them," she said. Specialties unique to the Barefoot Kitchen are Moxie Jelly and Moxie Syrup, made with the official soft drink of Maine.

Settling in for a late-morning live owl presentation by staff from the Birdsacre sanctuary in Ellsworth, Sarah Gilmore, 9, and her sister Lydia, 5, seemed glad to take a break. The Gilmore girls, who were at the show with their parents, were heavily laden with freebies from the many booths they had visited. Lydia showed off a squiggly, pale green fishing lure -- minus the hook -- a "flying" plastic ring toy, a coloring book and a pencil with its own sharpener. "I really liked the candy," she said, remembering the samples available at many booths.

Sarah had a bracelet -- "from the help Smokey prevent wild fires company" -- a big poster of animal skeletons and a professional-looking fishing rod. "They were handing these out for free," she said, brandishing the rod with enthusiasm, "and I got the last one."

The show opened Friday evening and ran through Sunday afternoon. Attendance figures and proceeds were not available Sunday night, but Munson of the conservation association said the show typically raises between $85,000 and $100,000. The money is used to send Maine children to conservation camps in Princeton and Bryant Pond and to help fund scholarships at the University of Maine and Unity College.