FINS, FEATHERS, FURS

Coming up:

February 26 Missouri Conservation Commission meeting, Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake Ozark.

February 26-28 St. Louis Regional Gun & Knife Show, Gateway Center, Collinsville, Ill.

March 5 Jackson's Trailblazer Gun Club meeting, Holiday Inn, Cape Girardeau, 7 p.m.

March 13 Illinois Big Buck Expo, John A. Logan Community College, Carterville. Seminars Big Buck contests.

March 14 Illinois Big Buck Expo, John A. Logan Community College, Carterville.

April 3-4 Old Greenville Blackpowder Rendezvous, Wappapello Lake.

April 24 Annual Missouri Beautification Association Spring Roadside Cleanup, Lake Wappapello.

May 22-24 Silver Bullet National Drag Boat Races, Lake Wappapello.

July 2-4 Waterfest, Lake Wappapello.

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Gun enthusiasts will have an opportunity to become a charter member of a new gun club Jackson's Trailblazers during a meeting to be held at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau Tuesday.

"The new club was founded recently," said Bill Schubert, secretary-treasurer of the new club. "We welcome new members, and everyone who signs up Tuesday night will be charter members."

Charter dues will be $15.

The Tuesday meeting will be held at the Oak Room, starting at 7 p.m.

Other officers of the club include Leon Dickerson, president, and Mable Skinner, vice president.

"We area affiliated with the National Rifle Association (NRA), and will affiliate with the Missouri Rifle Association in the near future."

Additional information is available by calling Schubert, 243-8539, or 450-0713, or Dickerson, 243-4133.

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The Missouri Department of Conservation, in cooperation with the Cape Girardeau VFW Post #3838, will conduct a Hunter Education Class March 6.

The class will be conducted at the VFW Post, 1049 N. Kingshighway, and will start at 8 a.m. The day-long course will end about 7 p.m.

Any person born on or after January 1, 1967, is required to complete the course before purchasing any type of firearm hunting permit.

Additional information concerning the course is available by calling the Regional Department of Conservation, 290-5730.

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The trout season opens Monday at Missouri's state parks Roaring River, Bennett Spring and Montauk.

Sirens marking the start of the trout-fishing season will sound at 6:30 a.m. at all three parks, which are administered by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Record crowds attended last year's opening day, which fell on a Sunday. Bennett Spring, 12 miles west of Lebanon, sold 4,092 trout tags on opening day, Montauk, 21 miles southwest of Salem, sold 3,921 and Roaring River, seven miles south of Cassville, sold 3,358 tags.

The parks offer camping, hiking and fishing facilities.

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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. The St. Louis Regional Gun & Knife Show is being held this weekend at the new Gateway Center, located in Collinsville, Ill.

More than 100 dealers will display knives, firearms and accessories.

House will be 4 to 8 p.m. tonight; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults and $2.50 for children, 14 to 16. Children 13-under area free when accompanied by an adults.

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JEFFERSON CITY Professional organizations recognized the accomplishments of several Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) employees, during the Forest, Fish and Wildlife Conference held recently at Tan-Tar-A Resort, Osage Beach.

MDC Assistant Director Ken Babcock received the E. Sydney Stephens Professional Wildlife Award for his work in wildlife management and resource conservation.

Two other MDC employees, Kathy Love and Joe Bachant, received awards from the Missouri Show-Me Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

MDC Prairie Wildlife Biologist Tom Toney received the Natural Areas Management Award from MDC's Natural Areas Committee.

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CARTERVILLE, Ill. The two-day, Illinois Big Buck Expo will be held March 13-14 at John A. Logan Community College at Carterville.

The two-day event is sponsored by The Illinois Department of Conservation and the Williamson County Tourism Bureau

Additional information is available by calling 1-800-433-7399.