SANDPOINT — As the third annual Inland Northwest Preparedness Expo approaches, the event has evolved into a full weekend of workshops, presentations and exhibits.

"We are doing it two days this year, which we haven't done in the past," said event chair Penny Cosner. "And we have speakers lined up — we have some pretty big-name speakers coming in for the event."

Some of those speakers include Glen Tate, author of the "299 Days" series; John Jacob Schmidt, founder of AmRRON, a nationwide community communications network; and author Shelby Gallagher, who will be talking about "Prepping from a Woman’s Perspective." Among others, Samuel "Ranger Rick" Hall from Priest River will talk about active shooter and gunshot trauma, Nick Mechikoff from Panhandle Health District will discuss water purification and storage, and Lee Lukehart will talk about go bags. Go bags typically include first aid, clothes, medication, important papers — any items someone might need in an emergency.

More than 20 exhibitors, including Bonner County Emergency Management, Wrenco Arms, Bee Safe Security, the Community Emergency Response Team and Off Grid 48, among others, will be in attendance at the expo throughout the weekend.

The first preparedness expo in 2016 was held in October, but was moved up to September in 2017 to coincide with National Preparedness Month. The purpose of the event, Cosner said, is to provide information to help people prepare for emergencies, natural or man-made.

"We do this every year so that people can become prepared for any catastrophic event that may happen in the area, such as flooding, wildfire, earthquakes, freezing weather — what do they need to do to be prepared for that?" Cosner said. "Basically, it's just being prepared because a lot of people don't realize what we can run into with the kind of weather and such that we have in this area."

The event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. Admission is $3, or $2 with a non-perishable food donation. Food items will be donated to the Bonner Community Food Bank, who will also be in attendance at the expo. Admission is free for kids 12 and under.

The speaker schedule, list of exhibitors and other information can be found at inwprepexpo.com.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.