Time to shake those winter blues: 29th annual Spring Home Show is here

While we don’t have to face the furry of the white stuff (thank goodness), by Florida standards it was a cold winter any time we have to wear socks for more than two days in a row.

So, it is with welcome anticipation to put all that behind us and get on over to the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach from Friday, March 23, through Sunday, March 25, for the 29th annual Spring Home Show, hosted by The Daytona Beach News-Journal,.

This is the place where you will find the inspiration for your indoor or outdoor home improvement projects. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday with more than 200 vendors will be waiting for you with their latest products and services.

All those home improvements you’ve been thinking about and dreaming of accomplishing can become a reality with just a little help and advice from these local professionals.

"Join one of our many daily seminars at main stage to learn something new," says Jamie Brown, The News-Journal's director of marketing and events. "We have everything from kitchen upgrades, reface and renew by Home Depot, to learning how to fertilize like a Floridian by The Volusia County Environmental Management Division."

From the top of your house, right down to the foundation, the Home Show packs every aisle with the how-to ideas and products you’ll need. For the outdoors: pools and spas, landscaping, pavers, grills and kitchens, automatic doors storm protections, roofing and solar panels to name just a few.

Adding to the excitement will be the prizes, giveaways, free in-home consultations and discounts that will be available around every corner and down every aisle at the show.

"New this year is our Chance to Enhance Give Away! Each attendee will receive a Spa Passport at the door," Brown explains. "They will need to visit one of our spa companies exhibiting at the show and simply drop the passport into the designated contest box. A random drawing will happen on Sunday at 2 p.m. at main stage. The winner will receive an outdoor patio package valued at $900."

Home Depot is back this year as one of the show’s premier sponsors and has plenty to offer attendees. On the How Show stage, Home Depot plans to talk to us about energy saving tips to help green our homes and kitchen upgrades where we replace, reface and renew. They also will have a women’s workshop, demonstrating do-it-yourself projects.

Brown says attendees won't want to miss the two Live Chef Demos on the main stage Saturday and Sunday. "Local chefs will prepare seasonal dishes live and provide samples to select audience attendees."

On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to noon, Executive Chef Devin Gainor from Azure Oceanfront American Kitchen, a fine dining restaurant at The Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach Shores, will demonstrate his artful technique in preparing a scallop appetizer, demonstrating his trick for ensuring a perfectly cooked shellfish.

So what’s his secret? He’s not saying anything more than, “It’s all about heat control.” For details you’ll have to see his demonstration at the Home Show.

Sunday’s local celebrity chef is John Schmitz, executive chef with Spectra Food Services at the Ocean Center. He’s on stage from 1 to 2 p.m. and plans to explain how to make a chicken taco pastor. He says it’s a form of a street taco. “I want to get people excited about the food they prepare."

By preparing the chicken on a skewer, he goes on to say that could take 2-3 hours to prepare in a more traditional taco carving, the technique he’s going to show will reduce it to a more manageable time frame. “It’s a simplified home version inspired by a Lebanese kefta.”

Also on the Home Show's main stage, you’ll hear from Acupuncture and Skin Care Clinic of Ormond Beach with a presentation on the benefits of acupuncture. That’s from 12:30 to 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The Florida Department of Health in Volusia County will offer four stage presentations: two on radon, 3-3:30 p.m. Saturday and 11-11:30 a.m. Sunday; a discussion on mold in our homes and how it affects our health from 3:30-4 p.m. Saturday, and onsite sewage disposal system-septic presentation from noon to 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Kidz Zone, a popular spot at the 2017 Fall Home Show, will be at the spring segment, again with plenty of crafts and activities by Home Depot for you and the kiddies to enjoy some quality time together crafting some cool projects.

Back this year is Beck’s Nursery of Port Orange and Daytona Beach. Beck’s has everything covered for you when it comes to designing and perfect plantings for your home – from its large inventory of shrubs, trees, palms and bamboo to its Outdoor Garden and Design Center that features a 5,000-square-foot brick paver showroom.

And speaking of design centers, Planet Granite of Daytona Beach, returns as a Home Show sponsor with its expert design team that is ready to put the finishing touches on your kitchen and bath projects that will bring out that wow factor you’re seeking.

New this year to the list of sponsors is Daytona Outdoor Power, the area’s certified dealer for outdoor power equipment such as Echo, Bearcat, Makita, Briggs & Stratton, Poulan Pro, Kawasaki and Kohler, to name a few. In addition to outdoor power equipment, Daytona Outdoor Power carries name brand parts and is an aftermarket parts store with a warehouse full of the parts you need.

Florida Tree Surgeons, which specializes in fast, efficient tree removal and trimming services, also is a sponsor this year.

If you’re in a giving mood, you will be able to give the gift of life during How Show hours. The Big Red Bus will be at the show, right outside the main entrance, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, March 23, and 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 24.