PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Late March sun peeked through, snow melted, and sizeable crowds marked the turning of the season last weekend at what has become a yearly ritual: the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club’s Spring Sportsman’s Show.
Club Vice President Nick Archer said attendance at the show, which took place March 25 and 26 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Gentile Hall, beat last year’s numbers, with 3,000 paid adults and innumerable children turning out for the event.
The club designs the show to take place just before the season officially changes. “It’s timed right in early spring. You know the snow is short-lived and it’s soon going to be time to get outdoors and enjoy what we have here in Aroostook County,” he said.
Maine Forest Ranger Steve Wipperman and family won the prize of an Old Town canoe during the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club’s 2017 Spring Sportsman’s Show, held March 25 and 26 at UMPI’s Gentile Hall. With their prize are, from left, Wipperman, his wife Beth, and their children, Rachel, Isaac and Benjamin, along with Max, the family dog. (Contributed photo)
The event features exhibits from outfitters, equipment dealers, sporting camps, nonprofit organizations, crafts such as snowshoes and other elements that reflect the outdoors. This year’s lineup included the ever popular fishing pond, the L.L. Bean Bootmobile, the club’s own air gun range, a laser hunting range and more, much of it aimed to appeal to youth.
The fishing pond is always a hit, Archer said. The Fish and Game Club partners with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, along with sponsor L.L. Bean, on the hands-on exhibit, which features a pool stocked with fish that young visitors can catch and then release. After the show the fish are restocked in an area pond close to Presque Isle.
“We also had a chainsaw carver, who carves images of moose and bear and deer. We had him stationed outside,” said Archer. “Of course, we had the mini-Riverside Inn Restaurant there, which was popular for lunch. There was a little bit of something for everybody.”
And that’s just what the club aims for, he said, adding younger visitors love stuff they can do.
“Just about every kid from 10 and under gets a gift when they come in the door, and so there’s a lot for the kids to do, and that’s what we focus on,” he explained. “Money raised from the show sponsors kids to one of the conservation camps — like the one at Bryant Pond — and we also sponsor lifetime fishing licenses for kids.”
Final tallies are not complete on the show’s takings this year, Archer said. “We make our money and spend it on kids and the outdoors. That’s what we do,” he added.
The formula has been a success, noted by none other than the Bean personnel who attend.
“They come to our show every year with the L.L. Bean Bootmobile,” Archer said. “These guys travel all over New England and part of the Eastern Seaboard. They have never seen an event that is so family-oriented and has as many kids attending as ours does.”
Now in its 18th year, the Sportsman’s Show outgrew space at the Northeastland Hotel and the Presque Isle Inn and Convention Center, then moved to UMPI’s Wieden Hall. It moved across the campus drive in 2006 when Gentile Hall was completed, a venue Archer called “fantastic.”
“It pulls the community together with the campus, which you’ll see by the families and kids attending,” he said. “UMPI is a great host to us.”
One of the show’s highlights was the drawing of the grand prize, an Old Town canoe. Steve Wipperman, who serves the Portage/Allagash district as a Maine Forest Ranger, won the prize this year.
In a note of appreciation, Wipperman told Archer that winning the canoe was very special to him and his wife and children, as it was the first year they had attended the show as a family.
Wipperman said March 30 that he, wife Beth and children Rachel, Isaac and Benjamin (along with their dog, Max) will get a lot of enjoyment out of the prize. “Every year we go up to the Allagash Waterway, so we’re going to enjoy that canoe very much,” he said.
PI Fish and Game has about 325 to 350 members, Archer said, making it one of the largest clubs by membership in the state.
