|
|
With the go ahead to do the show and it taking on a bowhunting spin from
exhibitors, Liska wanted to compliment the hunting element of his show the way
Babe Winkleman did for the fishing aspect during the first year.
Chuck Adams, was then and is now the undisputed guru of Bowhunting. Having
written thousands of feature articles on the sport and taken more record book
trophies than any other hunter in history, his appearance in Traverse City
seemed like another unobtainable dream.
"I remember my first out-of-body experience listening to his message on my voice
mail telling he how excited he was to be coming to TC," Liska fondly recalls.
…like with Babe two years earlier it all just fell into place." Now with the
fight for the arena behind them and Adams on the bill they were poised for their
best show ever. Only a force as great as Mother Nature Herself could stop them
now. And, of course, she tried.
The night before the show opened northern Michigan received one of the worst
storms of the season. The show opened to most people in the area digging over
10" of sloppy white stuff out of their driveways, let alone driving to the Civic
Center to see a show.
Yet with Adams in town all wasn’t lost "…and we were able to squeak it out in
the end. I shutter to think what it would have been like without Chuck, though."
In the end it was a long, hard battle that resulted in the lowest attendance
figures the show has ever seen.
Not even 2003’s American invasion of Iraq the day before the show opener rivaled
the snow storms impact on attendance.
"We also had the fewest exhibitors ever that year." The contract dispute with
the County came during a time when most exhibitors usually paid their deposits
to be in the show. The rumor mill had been working over-time and it took its
pound of flesh.
Those three were the trend setting years. Yet the show would go on without
nearly the excitement before the doors opened in coming years. Continuing its
tendency for firsts in northern Michigan, ’98 saw the World Record Elk Tour as
well as many other nationally known taxidermy displays to follow. Noted outdoors
celebrities like Noel Feather, Dan Fitzgerald, Fred & Greg Abbas, Mark Martin,
Richard P. Smith and more have went on to entertain and inform guests of the
show.
In 1999 and 2000 the show’s popularity and attendance numbers were honored by US
Tobacco Co. when it awarded the show the use of its Skoal Bass Tank two
consecutive years. A distinction usually reserved for bigger show markets.
Continued on Page 4
|