SPANISH FORT, Ala. — With less than three weeks before the third annual Delta Woods and Waters Expo, organizers are hopeful the business community will step up support for the community event.

“If we can meet last year’s (sponsorship) level and hopefully improve it just a little, I think we will have done something because a lot of people have struggled financially this year,” said Donna Dunning, who serves as the city’s liaison to the steering committee alongside Mayor Joe Bonner.

An estimated $5,500 was donated in sponsorships for the 2010 event, she said, and nearly matched with in-kind services.

The expo was created in 2009 to expose area youth to the virtues of environmental consciousness and importance of marine safety, while simultaneously addressing the city’s long-range goal of creating a communitywide event that defines and unites its residents.

The three-day festival is slated for April 28-30 at 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center which joins the city as the event’s only other “major” sponsor.

Asking the community to dig deep is certainly not a one-sided request, though, considering the environmental extravaganza is designed to showcase the Mobile-Tensaw Delta’s myriad natural resources for hundreds of school children and the public at large, Dunning said.

As of press time, only the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce had signed on as a Pelican sponsor, requiring a minimum $1,000 donation. Meanwhile, three local companies had agreed to Delta sponsorships of at least $500; four area professionals had signed on for Woods sponsorships of at least $250; six individuals and companies had committed to $100 Water sponsorships; and one local company was named a Friends of the Delta sponsor for donating less than $100.

“We really have worked hard to structure it so that any budget can contribute,” Dunning said.

And of course, 5 Rivers Delta Safaris has assumed sole sponsorship for the inaugural Great Bartram Canoe Classic on the expo’s third and final day.

5 Rivers Manager Hank Burch said he has felt from day one that the festival presents the perfect partnership between the environmental education facility and the city.

“This is our community festival, and I hope to see it continue to grow,” Burch said, rattling off a lengthy list of new additions to the 2011 festival line-up, including the canoe race, demonstrations by the Coosa River Science Center Raptor Trek program, an outdoor photography exhibit and seminar with naturalist photographer Fontaine Howard, as well as several book signings in the Cypress Gift Shop.

“As we go forward, I think we’ll continue to add new content each year and grow the event.

Our mission at 5 Rivers is to celebrate biological diversity and the great outdoors, and we’re particularly interested in supporting opportunities like the expo where children and families can get outside and enjoy everything the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta has to offer,” Burch said.

While the first two days of the annual event are reserved for area fourth-graders, Family Day traditionally offers an expanded slate of 25 activities and demonstrations, covering everything from small-boat handling and turkey calling to yarn spinning and marine safety. John C. Hall, founding curator of the University of West Alabama’s Black Belt Regional Museum, will reprise his role as storied naturalist William Bartram, who traveled through Alabama in 1775, recording firsthand data on the region’s undisturbed natural environment and native inhabitants.