Squamish's great outdoors had a chance to shine at the first-ever Squamish Outdoor Recreation Expo (SORE), which took place at the Adventure Centre on Saturday (April 30).
Twenty-two clubs ranging in interest from walking to paddling to swimming took over the building and organizer Ian Lowe said it was a good debut for the event.
"We were very pleased about the success of the event," he said. "Considering that for many of the clubs and associations it was their first time in a trade show environment, the booths were very impressive."
Lowe said he appreciated the effort that all the clubs made to inform the public.
"Almost all of the 22 clubs represented had an interactive quality to their tables as well as images, videos and a variety of other animated qualities," Lowe added. "The feedback I received from the participants was that they had no idea there was such a variety of clubs available in Squamish."
He said the clubs attending appreciated the forum and several saw an increase in their membership base. Lowe said that the Squamish Valley Photography Club (SVPC), in particular, noticed significant increases in its membership.
"The photography club shared with me that they increased their membership by 20 per cent in the first three hours of the expo," he said. "That story is exactly the reason we wanted to put this event on and can only hope that all the clubs had this level of success."
The SVPC, for their part, seemed pleased with how the event went.
"I think the show's went pretty good," said the SVPC's Josh Langstaff. "We got a great spot in front of the door and had a bunch of people sign up."
"It's a really good first attempt," said the SVPC's Doug Hackett. He added that if there's a SORE next year that the SVPC would "absolutely" be back.
Ralph Chelswick of the Squamish Yacht Club agreed that SORE was beneficial, not only for his group but for Squamish as a whole.
"I think for the first-time the event went really well," he said. "We had a good turnout and what I noticed was a lot of new people. It's really a good thing for people to know about these clubs in town."
Mayor Greg Gardner also took in the festivities as a judge for the most spirited club award. Gardner deemed the Callaghan Winter Sports Club display as the most spirited, thanks to its biathlon display, which allowed attendees to shoot laser beams into a mock shooting target. Other top displays included the Squamish Paddling Club's rowing machine, SORCA's trail display and the Squamish Emergency Program's AdventureSmart display, which was located just outside the Adventure Centre.
Lowe said that the decision to run the event again in 2012 has not been made at this point but based on the feedback from participants and attendees, the interest is certainly there.
