This weekend Adair County will have the pleasure of hosting the South Central Kentucky Outdoor Expo for the seventh year in a row.
This year the expo will be bigger than ever with several exciting additions, including new health education-based seminars, a BB gun range and pony rides.
Terry Partin is one of many from this community that helps to spearhead the event each year and Partin has seen tremendous growth with the expo since its inception in August 2010.
“The expo seems to grow every year in participation and attendance and we continue to forge new partnerships to make this the best one-day outdoor expo across the state every year,” says Partin.
Last year the expo had its first duck calling championship and they are proud to bring the competition back again this year.
“Our cooperation with the Stuttgart Arkansas Chamber of Commerce has helped us to bring back the Duck Calling Championship again this year and the winner of our state championship will have a chance to compete at the World’s Championship Duck Calling contest in November which is held in Stuttgart,” says Partin.
On top of bringing back several of the main staples that have made the Outdoor Expo so popular from year to year, they’ve added two new seminar classes to help educate the public about a new food allergy that is popping up in our community as well as the global and local threat of the Zika virus.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is the new seminars we’ve added,” says Partin. “Our first seminar of the day is on the Zika virus and we want the community and the public to know the dangers of this virus but we’ve also added a seminar over Alpha-Gal, which is a new food allergy that develops from a tick bite; those affected develop an allergy to red meat, and these things affect everyone, not just those of us who participate in outdoor activities and we want to let the public know.”
On top of the educational aspects within the expo, a larger message is supported and given out by those involved in volunteering and organizing the expo each year.
“We’ve started and continued this expo out of a faith based mission,” says Partin. “We want to reveal the good message of Christ and we don’t promote any specific church, rather we just want everyone to have a chance to learn about Jesus Christ and the love He has for humanity.”
The expo is a totally non-profit event with proceeds from food sales going directly towards funding activities at the expo. The $5 entry fee also gets patrons a ticket into the grand prize drawing of a John Deere Gator.
“We want to express our gratitude to the community for all they do with volunteering; we have so many people who come out to sell tickets, to give out food, to do judging, and we want to make sure everyone knows how much their service is appreciated,” says Partin. “We often overlook the economic benefits of this expo to the community, but we bring in people from more than 10 states and it’s a benefit for our local economy and it gives our community something to be proud of at the state level.”
The seventh annual Central Kentucky Outdoor Expo starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Adair County High School. Be sure to come out and take part in all the fun, education and fellowship in Kentucky’s largest one-day outdoor expo!
By Adam Capps
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