Sufferin' in Suffern

After the whirlwind tour to England, it was off to the World Fishing and Outdoor Exposition in Suffern, NY at Rockland County Community College set for March 5-8. This is considered one of the top outdoor shows in the state and I’ve been attending it for more than 15 years as a representative of the local tourism office. In addition, this is a show where we partner with the Lake Ontario Sportfishing Promotion Council to join together and create a 20-foot booth and a more impressive display for downstate sportsmen and women. We’ve talked to more and more people who have made the trek to Lake Ontario and the Niagara River. They will be back!
Doing these types of consumer shows are important in that they help me maintain contact with the general public to get a feel for what’s happening out there in the marketplace. It allows for a better opportunity to “sell” our area, an excellent support mechanism for some of the advertising that we do AND the work we do with outdoor media. We’ve had several outdoor writer fam trips from local media mavens like Ken Schultz, Glenn Sapir, Dick Nelson, Jim Stabile, Milt Rosko, Joel Lucks and the like through individual trips, as well as trips with the Metropolitan Outdoor Press Assn. and the New York State Outdoor Writers Assn. In fact, I cornered Dick Nelson here on the opening day of the show to try and work on a MOPA spring safari May 27-29 this year to show off the lower river trout fishing, the Lake Ontario salmon and trout fishing and maybe some of the local bass fishing if weather patterns cooperate.
These shows are also a great way to network with manufacturers for potential sponsorships for derbies and tournaments, as well as supporting some of our media events. It also allows us to see what other areas are doing to promote themselves, helping us to stay ahead of the curve and lead the charge in the world of fishing promotion.
It’s certainly not about the lifestyle. Trying to keep track of all the writing assignments is a nightmare. Having to take care of finances like bills and personal expenses while on the road is a difficult challenge. We’re usually up early and get back to the room late after a late meal in a local restaurant.
A local favorite restaurant here is Sutter’s Mill and I had dinner with Oswego charter captain Greg Gehrig last night, an intense fishermen who runs his 40-foot boat down the lake each year to compete in the Lake Ontario Pro-Am Salmon Team Tournaments. We appreciate his support and we let him know that.
In the booth, two other Oswego guys are working the LOSPC end of things. Dave Rath and Jim Wright are two retired guys with a pulse on the outdoors and excellent promoters of our natural resources. They’re fun to work with and help to get that important message out to the general public. Of course, food is usually involved of a wild variety and just yesterday we sampled wild boar sausage, goose jerky, goose pastrami, pheasant sausage and duck sausage. Most of that was courtesy our friend John Yonke, retired DEC wildlife biologist who live in the area and volunteers for some of the state booths here. I’ve known John for a good number of years and we’re always sharing stories … and food!
And so the show season continues. today will be a long day in the booth, opening up at 9:30 a.m. and continuing until 7 p.m. tonight. That will be time for dinner and another late night back to the room … before we do it all over again. It’s a different kind of lifestyle, but one I’ve become accustomed to. I’ve been attending these kind of shows for the county for 22 years now. It’s not glamorous, it’s tough on the body, but it’s an important part of the job. Hey, someone has to do it!

Jim Stabile, writer from New Jersey, during a recent writer fam out of Wilson.

Tags: Jim Stabile, shows off a nice spring salmon while fishng out of Wilson., writer from New Jersey