The annual Gun and Hobby show will return to the Fort Frances Curling Club in just two weeks.
The May 6 show will feature many products for outdoor enthusiasts as well as other hobbies.
Organizer Scott Stafford says there will be something for everyone at the show.
“It will be basically the same style as as we’ve had in previous years with 80-100 tables as well as outdoor exhibitors,” Stafford said. “The Lakers are going to have a display with their four wheeler raffle, Badiuk’s is going to be there with their four wheelers and outdoor generators. We’re going to have a kids corner again, like we’ve had in years past.”
A new vendor for this year’s show will be Marway Militaria and Winnipeg Army Surplus which sells a variety of army surplus items from their shop in Winnipeg as well as different military badges and insignia, outdoor equipment and tactical gear.
There will also be door prizes and a canteen available in addition to the usual guns, ammunition and outdoor equipment.
Stafford and his family created the local Gun and Hobby Show because he enjoyed attending them and collecting weapons since his teen years.
“The closest gun shows at the time were in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, then there were actually shows up in Dryden and Kenora as well, but I realized that our area had never had a gun show,” Stafford said. “So there seemed to be a market and I felt like I knew enough of the exhibitors that had done the gun show circuits all around us and I felt that I could probably put on a show and not have to travel two and a half hours to go to one.”
It was at a funeral lunch in the Barwick hall that Stafford realized the venue could potentially host a gun show and the following spring he did just that. They held three different shows at the Barwick hall before the event got too large for that venue and the show moved to the Fort Frances Curling Club, where it’s been since.
To buy a gun or ammunition you must possess a valid Possession Acquisition License (PAL). Minor’s licenses only permit use of a firearm, you must be 18 to purchase a weapon and 16 to buy ammunition.
“One thing I realized is this year being our 16th year there are kids buying guns at the gun show now who don’t remember there not being a gun show in our,” Stafford said. “It’s kind of fun to have that history and that continuity behind us. It’s a neat thing to see the younger generation being so excited about something.”
The show runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is $7 for adults over 12 years old.
