From left to right: Me, Field Editor Charlie Harder and T&PC Ad Sales Rep Chris Adamski
at the T&PC booth at the 50th Annual NTA Convention (Photo courtesy of Charlie Harder)
Trappers might be known as solitary outdoorsmen, but we can get together and have a good time too. The 50th Annual NTA Convention in Lima, Ohio last weekend is proof of that.
Despite a down economy and historically low fur prices, trappers from all over the country and beyond gathered in large numbers at the Allen County Fairgrounds in Ohio. The demo area and vendor buildings were busy from open in the morning to close in the evening and the campgrounds were hopping long into the night. I haven’t seen an official tally, but I heard nearly 6,000 trappers and vendors attended the event. That’s an impressive number.
The Ohio State Trappers hosted the convention and deserve to be commended for the exceptional coordination of the entire event. From the friendly help at any request to the outstanding demo area, it was a top-notch job by the Ohio trappers. The vendors were busy and everyone attending the convention seemed to have a hard time just getting through all of the buildings in the four days the event was going on. I didn’t hear a single complaint about how the convention was set up or run and beautiful weather throughout the weekend made it even better.
Another encouraging sign that I noticed was the number of kids at the convention. There were a lot of young trappers checking out the event and they brought a lot of excitement with them. It’s extremely important that we carry the tradition of trapping on to the next generations and it looks like we’re well on our way.
It was a pleasure meeting all of you that stopped by our booth. It means a lot to us to meet our readers and hear how much our magazine means to you. That’s why we do what we do.
See you in Wisconsin next year!
