Fishing Events News

OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER MARKET – is the world’s largest outdoor sports industry gathering in the world, bringing retailers and media together with over 1000 brands in the business of producing and selling the active outdoor lifestyle. Brands include Timberland, The North Face, W.L. Gore, Columbia Sportswear, Patagonia, Ocean Kayak, Merrell and ; buyers include REI, The Sports Authority, Cabelas, Nordstrom, and thousands of other retailers. Media players include Outside Magazine, National Geographic, Men’s Journal and hundreds more, including non-endemics like WSJ, Forbes, Newsweek. 21,000+ overall attendees. 200,000 page impressions/month around showtime.

OUTDOOR RETAILER WINTER MARKET – is North America’s largest winter lifestyle and sports industry gathering in the world. 16,000+ attendees. 150,000 page impressions/month around show time. Brands include Timberland, The North Face, W.L. Gore, Columbia Sportswear, Patagonia, Ocean Kayak, Nike, Merrell and ; buyers include REI, The Sports Authority, Cabelas, Nordstrom, and thousands of other retailers. Media players include Outside Magazine, National Geographic, Men’s Journal and hundreds more, including non-endemics like WSJ, Forbes, Newsweek. 21,000+ overall attendees. 200,000 page impressions/month around show time.

Visit http://www.outdoorretailer.com/summer-market/ for more information.

Future Show Dates:

Summer Market: Summer Market 2012 – OAD August 1, ORSM August 2-5

Summer Market 2013 – OAD July 31, ORSM August 1-4

Winter Market:

Winter Market 2012 – MLK Holiday 16th, AMD Jan. 18, ORWM January 19-22 Winter Market 2013 – MLK Holiday 21st , AMD 23nd, ORWM January 24-27 Winter Market 2014 – MLK Holiday 20th, AMD 22nd, ORWM January 23-26

Why Attend?

• Buyers looking for the latest outdoor products for the upcoming season know exactly where to find them - at Outdoor Retailer.
• OR shows are considered the most powerful buying events in the outdoor industry,
• More quality brands, cutting edge technologies and emerging trends here than at any other single outdoor industry event.
• We are committed to helping you grow your business.

Team River Runner Lexington, Kentucky

We offer kayaking and canoeing trips on flat water and white water for Veterans, active duty military and opportunities for volunteering as well. Our weekly trips are perfect for beginners, as we use either local swimming pools (in the winter) or flat water streams (in the summer). We also offer monthly trips to whitewater rivers in North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Our yealy Leadership Clinics reach as far as Key Largo, Florida.

Join them on Facebook 

Read more about Team River here: http://teamriverrunnerlex.blogspot.com/

Article posted in  Lex in the Herald Leader below:

 
Healing on the water
KAYAK PROGRAM HELPS IRAQ WAR VETS FORGET THEIR WOUNDS

By Mary Meehan - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ALONG ELKHORN CREEK IN SCOTT COUNTY — Josh Williams had just re-signed with the Air Force when he and four buddies went out on routine patrol.

This war has been going on long enough that you know what comes next: A bomb went off on an Iraq roadside, Williams was thrown 45 feet and knocked out. When he came to, what was left of one friend's leg lay across his body.

"All four of my buddies died," said Williams, in a tone that says he's told this story many times before. "Four of my closest friends. Every one of their moms gave me a dog tag."

That was six years ago.

He strives to keep those dog tags close, tucked safely in his room.  He can't shake the memory, even though he tries.  It's every minute in his head, a shadow behind every thought.  Over time, it made his world small, then smaller. He eventually ended up in the Veterans Affairs Hospital on Leestown Road in Lexington.

And soon enough, Williams found some relief paddling down a Kentucky stream.  On the water, "you are not in your head. Stress is somewhere else, because you are right there in the moment. You can't be thinking about your problems," said Linda Tribble, who helped create the program that brought Williams and others to the water.

Learning to paddle

The Central Kentucky program is not an original idea, although it has some unique features. In 2004, some Washington, D.C., kayakers decided to help vets from Iraq and Afghanistan re-enter the world by learning how to paddle in the pool at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. They would then venture from the pool out onto calm streams; then the most adventurous would go onto white water and eventually even the ocean. It's called Project River Runner.

Tribble, a full-time compliance office at the Lexington VA and part-time paddler, saw an article about the Washington program and thought, "There's no reason we can't do it here."  The goal behind the idea was simple.

"We have a society of veterans who were young and active when they left. We want to get them back to that lifestyle," she said.
She found the right people to talk to in the VA, contacted some fellow paddlers who would volunteer, tracked down some federal money aimed at rehabilitation that could help buy kayaks and two years ago started taking to the water.
Helped by Nathan Depenbrock of Canoe Kentucky and volunteers from the Bluegrass Wild Water Association, they started in tranquil waters instead of a pool.

The program was open to all veterans at the hospital and those who had completed programs there, including recent vets and warriors from conflicts long off the front page.  Their wounds range from physical to emotional. A number suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or struggle with addiction. Some appear physically sound but have suffered closed-head injuries that complicate everyday life.

Others have severe physical challenges but thrive with the help of volunteers. One, Ben Brown, an Army vet and paraplegic, has excelled, going white water rafting in Montana and becoming a vocal advocate for the group.
Getting out on the water has therapeutic values, said VA speech pathologist Lyn Tindal. For vets with head injuries, for example, it helps sharpen spatial perception, helps patients practice how to follow directions, solve problems and stretch their memory. On the physical side, it takes balance and strength.

They have to interact with strangers and depend on one another to venture out into a world many have avoided too long.
Last week in Georgetown, on the shores of Elkhorn Creek, the mostly silent veterans got out of the VA bus as the sun was going down. Most were quicker to light up a cigarette than put on the kayak gear. But soon there was a buzz as they emptied boxes of water shoes and suitable shirts and grabbed paddles and vessels.

It wasn't 10 minutes in before the first vet tipped over into slow, green current but he was soon righted and on his way.
There was a little game of kayak football but mostly just smooth waters during the hourlong trip. There was lots of laughing as they ventured just far enough out of civilization that they could no longer hear the cars on the nearby roads.
They came back energized. Williams stowed his gear and then helped his buddies. "It's just like in the military," he said as he stacked kayaks in a trailer.

"You can tell there is a big difference between them when they go out and they come back," Tribble said. "They've bonded. They're more relaxed."

Real heroes

Depenbrock, of Canoe Kentucky, sees it, too. "These guys are real heros," said Depenbrock, who chokes up a little when he talks about the transformations he's seen. "I get way more out of it than they do."

He hopes to expand the program. He, Tribble and Brown will soon be speaking at a national meeting of water sports professionals, hoping to help others start a program in their area and secure more sponsorships to serve vets.
It's not that one trip down a country stream can heal years of pain.  But it helps.

For a while this week, Williams didn't dwell on what happened, what should have happened, what's going to happen next.
He floated and splashed and laughed a little.

He went out in the world, and he wants to do it again. He's going to get a necklace for those tucked-away dog tags so he can wear them and keep them safe the next time.

"This is the most fun I've had in a long, long time," he said.

Reach Mary Meehan at (859) 231-3261 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3261.

Youth Day 2011  - by Sportsmen for Youth
 
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Muskegon County Fair Grounds
6621 Heights Ravenna Rd · Fruitport, MI
 
Who we are...We are Sportsmen for Youth - For more information, visit http://www.sportsmenforyouth.com/

The youth of today are our most important resource -- The leaders of tomorrow. We believe that our youth are the future of outdoor sports and recreation. However, many of today's youth never get introduced to the great outdoors or the organizations that work to preserve it for future generations. It's for this reason that Sportsmen For Youth was organized.

To establish that appreciation of the great outdoors in our youth, 17 Western-Michigan area sportsmen organizations have, for the past 16 years, joined together to create Youth Day which brings together the youth of West Michigan with the sporting organizations that work hard to preserve out outdoor recreation.

Youth Day is designed to introduce youth to the great joy of outdoor sports. Youth Day's are both educational and fun for area children. Absolutely free of charge to all children and guardians, those in attendance can participate in hands on activities and special demonstrations that will be conducted and supervised by each of the listed organizatio

ns. The event offers hands-on activities including a trout pond, archery shooting, live animals and furs to touch and feel, public safety demonstrations, wildlife management demonstrations, door prizes, free lunch for the children and many more fun activities.

Each participating organization will have a display unique to its individual sporting activity designed to interest and ducate. Outdoor celebrities will be invited to address the group. Refreshments, snacks and a lunch ticket will be provided free of charge to all children.

Learn how to become a sponsor: http://www.sportsmenforyouth.com/about/

PPA ANNOUNCES FREE PADDLING PASSPORT FOR 9^TH GRADERS

Professional Paddlesports Association Working with US Paddling Outfitters to Provide Passport for Free Paddling for 9^th Graders!

9^th Grade students all over the United States can go paddling for free this season thanks to a new program announced by the Professional Paddlesports Association (PPA).   This program, called the 9^th Grade Paddle Pass allows 9^th grade students to register and receive a passport that will get them up to ten free paddling trips with participating outfitters all over the United States. They will simply go onto a website to pull up the registration form, complete it then have a teacher or administrator verify the information and return it to the PPA. The PPA will provide that student with a passport that the student can take to a participating outfitter that is listed on the website and receive a free paddling trip! The passport will allow each registered student to experience this up to ten times – either at the same location or, trying out another one. The pass will enable them access to a canoe/kayak rental as well as the necessary gear for the activity. The PPA continuously strives to encourage people to try paddling as a suitable alternative for the day-to-day inactivity that normally comes in an individual’s life – particularly in children. The 9^th Grade Paddle Pass is one way to get children to experience the great benefits of paddling and grow the sport within the next generation.

American Children are in trouble. The socially acceptable way of life is to sit inside and become a stagnant mass in front of a computer screen, video game or television and to only go outside to get into a vehicle to take them to school where they sit for eight more hours learning how to go to work to do more sitting. What happened to playing outside? What happened to using their imaginations to make up games instead of just robotically following a game that came from another’s imagination? This appears most critically as children are entering High School and they begin to form patterns of what their future will become. To combat this trend the Professional Paddlesports Association is partnering with Nova Craft Canoe from Canada and other outdoor promoters to begin what will be a continuous program promoting outdoor activities among the youth of today.

The Paddle Pass provides a unique opportunity for teens to get out and enjoy the outdoors with their families at a minimal cost. The major emphasis of this program is introducing an enjoyable, recreational activity for teens to enjoy that includes physical activity and nature connections. The pass represents an initiative to positively influence the recent decline in physical activity seen among today’s youth. To combine the appreciation of nature that can last a lifetime with a fun way to exercise provides youth with opportunities previously left unconsidered. This philosophy runs in conjunction with an ongoing movement geared towards reconnecting youth with nature for the purpose of securing the future of our ecosystem.  Families are also strongly encouraged to become involved with this initiative; they are often being the enabling factor for children’s participation in outdoor activities.

9th Grade Paddle Pass is a nonprofit initiative that promotes and encourages youth participation to engage in outdoor activities. To facilitate this program the PPA invite any organizations, business or agency to help support it. Any contributions to Paddle Pass will make a difference. For more information about the Paddle Pass and to download the registration form, go to www.paddlepass.com.

Since 1979, the PPA has existed as an association of outfitters and retailers that has a mission to promote the growth of paddlesports recreation and business. To do so, the PPA devotes equal effort for its membership toward three main goals: increasing paddlesports participation, improving paddlesports safety, and enhancing business education for industry professionals. For more information on the PPA call the main office at 231-652-1830 or view the website at www.propaddle.com.

Michigan's finest tradition for the avid fisherman, hunter or outdoor loving family!  Exhibitors will be at the show with the latest outdoor gear, travel information and fishing boats.  The features are famous: World Class Taxidermy, Antique Lures, Trout Pond, Woodcarvers, Pellet Range, Fishing Simulator, Rock Wall and Fly Casting Instruction.  Nearly 100 fishing and hunting seminars will be held on 4 stages, including "Lake Ultimate," the 110,000 gallon indoor lake.  Michigan sportsmen never miss it!

2011 Dates & TimesAdmission (Public)

Thursday, March 17 3pm - 9:30pm

Friday, March 18 11am - 9:30pm

Saturday, March 19 10am - 9pm

Sunday, March 20 10am - 5pm