The Messenger’s 2011 Outdoor Expo will whet the appetite for the recreational pleasures of the warmer months just ahead. This year’s incarnation of this popular annual event will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Iowa Central Community College Career Education Building.

A multitude of exhibitors will be on hand to display a myriad products and champion diverse outdoor fun options. Recreational vehicles and boats will be prominently in evidence, but so too will be many other accouterments of the outdoor life.

It’s hard to imagine an outdoor recreational possibility that won’t be represented.

Highlights of this year’s show will include:

• Tips on fishing in the Midwest by renowned angler Bob Jensen at 11 a.m. Saturday;

• Wide-ranging presentations by Kay Nuemann of the Saving Our Avian Resources on both Saturday and Sunday that feature a live bald eagle;

• Dan Young’s short course on bow hunting for wild turkeys at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday;

• An indoor fish tank stocked with locally raised tilapia;

• The opportunity for the young folk to make a pine cone birdfeeder;

• Archery for the kids;

• Laser shooting and

• Much, much more.

Major themes of the show will be habitat conservation and the diversity of outdoor recreational possibilities the Hawkeye State affords.

The Messenger is proud to be a sponsor of this information-packed show in conjunction with Boone Valley Implement, Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Toyota, Iowa Central Community College and Iowa Falls Marine.