NASHVILLE, Tn. – Celebrating its 40th anniversary, The National Wild Turkey Federation held its 37^th National Convention Thursday through Sunday of last week at Opryland in Nashville, Tn.

Thousands were in attendance to participate in seminars, auctions, exhibits, celebrations and awards banquets. There were several calling and taxidermy competitions.

The opening dinner, Thursday night began with a video featuring Edgefieldians John and Virginia Kemp and their children and grandchildren speaking about what the NWTF has meant to them over the years. Charles Kemp and his family were in attendance. Following the dinner the crowd was entertained by the country music band Sawyer Brown. Craig Morgan played for the crowd Saturday night at the Awards Banquet.

The exhibit hall was packed with turkey hunters and other outdoorsmen and women each day. There were over 700 booths covering  220,000 square feet. All manner of hunting and sporting gear and clothing were on display. The Turkey Shoppe had a large booth, front and center of the exhibit hall, which was as large as their store on Main street in Edgefield.

NWTF spokesmen did not have official numbers to report, but said that attendance was up this year.