We all checked that we had the right credentials on us as we drove through the wet snow. Aaron, Neil, Will and I were on our way to the Olympic Stadium to check out the outdoors show dubbed Le Salon National du Grand Air held from the 15th to the 19th of this month. We checked in and followed the flow of the people going in. We bypassed the hot dog stands in hopes of landing some Buffalo Jerky like at past outdoors shows. The show started with Aboriginal businesses and organizations. The tourism arm of Ouje Bougoumou was there including Chisasibi’s Mandow Agency. There were Arts and Crafts shops along with the Odanak Cheese Factory. Designer Tammy Beauvais with her beautiful vests and scarves was there, she said they are able to make wedding or graduating ensembles.
We met up with Gilles Dorais in his Tiipii with his log homes. There were artists, jam makers and carvers. I tried my luck at a jacket draw from the Keepers of the Eastern Door Mohawk Singers and Dancers. There were a couple of Tiipii’s there, I heard a guy tell his wife to go into the one he just came out to “feel the serenity.” The Montreal Friendship Centre was also present with information about the centre and some crafts from their crafts store. We met up with lots of friends and new aqaintances.
Then it opened up to the rest of the show that featured a trout pond for kids under 14 years old to “initiate” them to fishing, Baron Sports, a major outdoors store in Montreal was there. They had boats, canoes and various vehicles, the all terrain “Argo” caught my eye as well as hosts of other products that I’ll get when I “grow up.” There was even a live moose there. Alas there was no Jerky to be had, so we settled for potato chips on the way out.
