Trade fair boasts colorful lineup
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — While it will be white outside, it will be a plethora of colors, including blue, red, green and orange inside at this weekend’s 33rd annual Agri-Business Trade Fair.
“We’ve got tractors every color of the rainbow this year,” said Michael Bosse, executive director of the Fort Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the event. “Bernaiche Sales & Service will be there with its Bobcat tractors, as will Harry’s Motor Sports & Equipment (Kubota), Theriault Equipment (John Deere), Crown Equipment (New Holland and Massey) and Gary’s Yamaha. It will be pretty colorful.”
The Agri-Business Trade Fair will be held March 23-24 at The Forum in Presque Isle.
“We have more than 50 exhibitors taking part in this year’s show,” said Bosse. “We’re sold out in terms of booth space; however, we’ve got a few more larger exhibitors this year than we had last year.”
New exhibitors include Coastal Enterprises, Inc., which sponsors the Beginning Farmer Resource Network of Maine, Bernaiche Sales & Service, Origami Owl and Northeast Agricultural Sales.
“There’s a good mix of new and returning exhibitors,” Bosse said.
Much like last year, organizers will once again focus on providing educational opportunities for trade show goers.
“We’ve got two canning seminars on Saturday, a 4-H demonstration, Eastern Maine Development Corp.’s Farmworker Jobs Program will hold a program called “Children Who Feed America” and Maine Public Service will do a mini heat pump demonstration Saturday, as well,” said Bosse.
“The University of Maine Cooperative Extension will be offering a pesticide licensing certification which will go on all day Sunday starting at 9:15 a.m. They will be testing, as well. When people leave there, provided they pass the test, they will be certified,” he said. “The canning demonstrations have been very popular in the past, as has the spray certification. Based on the response we received last year, people like the opportunity to learn new things whether it be about a particular product or skill. Many people — including the exhibitors — were extremely pleased that we brought that component back.”
The Agri-Business Trade Fair will be held from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $3 for adults and $1 for children under 12.
“We’re really hoping people will come out for this year’s fair and see that it is a worthwhile event,” said Bosse, noting that the Maine Agri Women will be on hand selling french fries again this year. “We’ve also got milk and cookie with the queens Saturday at 2 p.m. out on the trade show floor and Spuddy will also make an appearance.”
For more information, contact Bosse at 472-3802 or log onto www.fortcc.org.
