Staff
The third-annual Barwick Gun & Hobby Show once again was a hit this past Saturday at the Barwick Hall.
“It went really well,” enthused event organizer Scott Stafford.
“We had about 543 people through the door, 83 of those were kids,” he noted.
He added they also saw an increase in the number of women attending the show—probably due to such draws as Loewen’s Greenhouse.
“There was really a strong community connection felt,” Stafford said.
“Throughout the show, a lot of people were just shaking hands, and just neighbours and friends and family,” he added.
“It was a pretty nice feeling to see people happy to be there.”
Fresh pies at the bake table were one of the highlights of this year’s show, said Stafford, as well as the new trail photo contest.
First place for the photo competition, which was determined by votes cast by those attending, went to Laverne Caul, whose submitted photo showed two lynxes.
Second place went to Dwayne Schram.
The draw prize for those who cast ballots was won by Randy Hogan.
Returning again this year was the whitetail deer rack competition, which also was decided by votes by attendees.
First place for the full rack category went to Steve Nordin, with second place going to Darrell Angus.
George Heyens took first place in the shed antler category while Mike Cyr was second.
The draw prize for those who cast ballots was won by Don Lougheed.
Meanwhile, three-and-a-half year-old Karson Loughrey was the excited youth who got to take home a Cooey 750 .22 LR single-shot rifle as part of the youth rifle draw that was new to the show this year.
Door prize winners were Lance Salchert, Bob McTavish, Wally Hartnell, Forrest McQuaker, and Graham Cumming.
“We do definitely hope that we can put it on next year,” said Stafford.
“We’re trying to build it for generations, so it’s not a disposable show,” he stressed.
“We’re trying to build it up and we’re trying to improve it every year.”
