The 2nd Annual Ozarks Sports & Outdoor Expo will be held at the Fulton County Fairgrounds, the Salem City Park, and the Fulton County Trap Range on March 30th. New this year is a Kid’s Zone for the area youth on the Fulton County Fairgrounds. One of the attractions in the Kid’s Zone will be the National Guard Inflatable Obstacle Course. The obstacle course is a large inflatable will cover the parking lot in front of the Salem City Pool.
In addition to the NG Obstacle Course, Dennis Dunderville of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission will bring Kid’s Archery Range to the Sports Expo Kid’s Zone. The Kid’s Archery Range will give students in Elementary and Middle Schools who have never participated in the archery sport a chance to shoot and learn safety for archery hunting. Sean Sanders, Local AGFC Official, has secured The Daisy BB Inflatable Shooting Range. Kid’s will get to shoot BB guns and learn safety practices.
There will also be a Face Painting Booth in the Kid’s Zone area and additional games and activities are in the planning stage.
The Sports Expo is a regional event that drew people from all over Arkansas and Missouri last year. It will feature vendors, a Fishing Derby, School Shooting Sports Competition, and 3-D Archery Competition for youth and adults. Admission to the Ozarks Sports & Outdoor Exp is free and there will be no charge for youth to participate in activities in the Kid’s Zone. For more information on the 2nd Annual Ozarks Sports & Outdoor Expo, contact the Fulton County Fair Association or the Salem Chamber of Commerce at 870-895-5565, or visit the Ozarks Sports & Outdoor Expo page on the Fulton County Fair website at www.fultoncountyfair.org or check out the Facebook page.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current membership chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.