BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The 35th Annual Early Bird Sports Expo in Columbia County took place over the weekend.

Outdoor sporting enthusiasts filled Bloomsburg Fair Grounds to celebrate all things hunting, fishing, and outdoors.

28/22 News Reporter Iyee Jagne stopped by to see what there was to offer.

Sunday was the last day of the three-day event, but the Annual Early Bird Sports Expo may not have happened at all if it hadn’t become a tradition for so many people.

The Early Bird Sports Expo has been around for 35 years. The annual event brings together people who have a passion for the outdoors.

Show Owner Jarrett Swartz started out as a vendor and says his passion for outdoors is why he didn’t want to see this end. So when the show’s former owners decided to step down… he and his wife decided it was up to them to keep it going.

“It’s a passion like it’s stuff we love like me and my wife always love to go to the show so when it was gonna end, it was kind of sour and then we jumped on it and we just love it,” Swartz explained.

This was the first year that Whitetail Properties Real Estate was at the show. Now, they look forward to coming back next year.

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“It’s everyone here that we dealt with is local Pennsylvania you know they’re within a short drive so and this is the areas that we work and these are the kind of people that we want to interact with and help them whether they’re looking to buy or sell land, so it’s really cool because we’re dealing with people that are in, in these communities where we work,” said Whitetail Properties Real Estate Land Specialist Levi Rentezl.

“We have a TV show that’s a national TV show for outdoors and for hunting so it’s a very popular logo so we like to offer our logo up for some merchandise if someone wants to purchase,” said Dustin Pavelsai, a Land Specialist for Whitetail Properties Real Estate.

The Early Bird Expo has something for almost everybody from all kinds of outdoor gear, and even some things you may not have expected to find here.

There were some food vendors here including one vendor who has been coming to the expo for the past three years offering different kinds of smoked cheese.

“This kind of clientele that we like to see the outdoor people a lot of people like to do smoking. It’s good complementary product to everything else here,” said Holy Smoke Co-owner David Rakowsk.

His customers seem to agree, returning year after year.

“See the same customers over and over. It’s always nice to see people come back to see us and be able to pick us out of the crowd,” Rakowsk added.

While the 2024 Early Bird Sports Expo focuses on a lot of hunting gear, you don’t have to be a hunter to enjoy the event.

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