Northern Ontario Expos is hosting its annual TimminsCon event this weekend at the McIntyre Community Centre. More than 80 exhibitors spent Friday setting up for two days of entertaining people with cosplay, vendors and television stars such as Lou Ferrigno (Incredible Hulk) and Erica Durance (Smallville). Organizers said this is their biggest ever celebration of all things fandom. Jason Denis, president of Northern Ontario Expo, said he grew up reading comic books in Timmins and was one of those people who said there was never anything to do in Timmins. “So I decided to try and do something about it,” Denis said. “Here we are, 15 years later, with an event that I’m very proud to be associated with.” Northern Ontario Expo is a non-profit organization run by a board, and it relies on numerous volunteers, including family, to make the event a success. “You know, my in-laws are heavily involved, friends, and uncles, they come and help out, Fran’s (Jason Denis’ wife) brother, you know, my kids,” said Denis. Economic driver for the city He said TimminsCon now draws close to 5,000 people a year. The event has also caught the attention of the municipal accommodations tax committee, which is contributing $55,000 to help it flourish. “And it has an economic driver of almost $80,000 to the community, so this is a big event for us and for the community as a whole, and definitely for Timmins Expo,” said Noella Rinaldo, director of community economic development for Timmins Economic Development. “I think there’s such an opportunity there for it to continue to grow.” Russ Preece of DDC Collectibles out of Lyndsay, Ont., said participating as a vendor in this year’s pop-culture convention was worth the drive. “We’ve been doing this for a number of years, probably about 10 years for these items, but we change our stuff pretty much every year,” Preece said. “So next year when we come, we’ll be another new product. This year, it’s lightsabers. And next year we’ll have RC products. So we’ll have high-speed vehicles and drones and stuff like that.” Richard Robin, a retiree from Cochrane who has experience in various industries and electronics, has invented a couple of games with his grandson. “Well, this one here is like a whack-a-mole, and I have another one that’s a little mini high striker,” Robin said. “It’s got a mushroom that the kids hit … and it’s basically made for kids 10 and under, because there’s not much for them to do to come to any big event like this.” A replica of Fred Flintstone’s vehicle is also on display, ready for anyone wanting to take a selfie in it.
