Thousands of singers and songwriters descend upon Nashville each year, hoping to fulfill their dreams in the music industry.

Dixie Chopper, meanwhile, came to the Country Music Capital of the world recently and left singing the praises of their most recent trade show experience.

A record 43,000 people visited the 33rd annual National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Sport Show Feb. 20-22 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel Resort and Convention Center in Nashville.

Among 545 displays packing the exhibit hall was the Dixie Chopper booth manned by Media Marketing Manager Rick Judy and Sales Assistant Luke Hutcheson. (Dixie Chopper is the official lawn mower of the NWTF).

"It's the same deal we've been saying all along (during the winter show season)," Judy assessed. "There are a lot of people out there with money and a lot of people willing to spend their money."

In other words, it is far from all gloom-and-doom for the U.S. economy. Judy and Hutcheson met with visitors from as far away as Canada, Colorado and Texas and came away extremely encouraged -- just as Dixie Chopper officials had at the recent National Farm Machinery Show and several regional shows.

Hutcheson, getting his first taste of working the booth at a busy show, expressed amazement.

"Friday and Saturday especially, we both were actually losing our voices from talking to people," Hutcheson said. "It was literally non-stop those two days. I hated to even leave the booth because it was so busy."

The great interest shown in Dixie Chopper mowers at the show, Hutcheson, made him "proud to see the end result of what we produce."

"With this being my first experience with a show like this, it was really neat to see peoples' reaction to our mowers. Even if they didn't stop to talk, they would go by the booth and look, and you could read their lips as they'd say, 'Wow!' or 'Now that's a mower!'

"We all know that," the DC sales assistant added. "We just need to be able to show more people like that."

A number of visiting commercial cutters commented that the new Dixie Chopper financing programs are some of the best in the industry, Judy noted. And the new three-year bumper-to-bump warranty really struck a chord with that crowd, he added.

In fact, two large commercial landscapers from the Nashville/Clarksville area seemed primed to trade in their red zero-turn mowers for new Dixies, Judy said.

"They were ready to go down to their dealer and get a demo, I'll tell you that," Judy said.

Hutcheson agreed, pointing out that three things really seem to catch visitors' fancy:

"No. 1, they loved that bumper-to-bumper warranty," he said. "No. 2, they liked our municipal lease program, and No. 3, they really like our stainless steel and how it looks and how much metal is in our machines."

Meanwhile, Judy related the story of a father-and-son team from South Carolina who said they sought out the Dixie Chopper booth after seeing the company would be represented at the annual NTWF event.

"They said, 'We own one of your mowers (a Classic 2760), and we just love it,'" Judy recalled the father offering.

After instructing them on how to remedy a simple belt problem, Judy figured he had seen the last of them.

However, at the banquet and auction that evening, a Dixie Chopper Silver Eagle 2550 was up for bid.

"I must have had six or eight people stop me and ask me how much that mower was worth," Judy said, noting he told them all any bid under $7,000 would be a bargain.

The mower sold for $5,500, and the buyer looked a bit familiar, Judy said. Turns out it was the son of the South Carolina man with the Classic 2760. "He said they decided it was such a good deal on the mower, they couldn't resist it. And since they live next door to each other it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and have a second mower."

Turkey hunters came out in force to support the NWTF mission of wild turkey conservation and preservation of hunting traditions. Convention-goers enjoyed a weekend of outdoor seminars, country music, auctions, world-class taxidermy, turkey calling and custom turkey call displays.

"We have the best members in the world," CEO George Thornton of the NWTF said. "They refuse to allow an economic downturn to dampen their passion for conservation and hunting. It was an outstanding show and we look forward to seeing everyone back again next year in Nashville."

The 2010 show is scheduled for Feb. 18-21.

Founded in 1973, the NWTF has worked with wildlife agencies to restore wild turkey populations from 1.3 million wild turkeys in 1973 to nearly 7 million today. NWTF volunteers work to improve critical wildlife habitat, increase access to public hunting land and introduce new people to the outdoors and hunting.