Ferris wheels and presidents and bears, oh my!

It isn’t exactly the Land of Oz, but the several hundred excited men, women and children who came out for the first day of business at Scheels All Sports felt like they weren’t in Sparks anymore.

And rightly so. The much-anticipated 248,000-square-feet sports emporium/amusement park-style store at the Sparks Marina has something to offer every member of the family — from Ferris wheel rides to hearing statues of famous presidents talk about their experiences and even a real taxidermied animal or two.

Saturday morning’s crowd formed two lines wrapping around the sides of the store waiting for the doors to open at 9 a.m. Many customers said they had been anticipating the opening for a long time.

“We’ve watched the progress of this store,” said Michael Duckett, a Scotts Valley, Calif. resident who made a four-and-a-half-hour drive to Sparks. “The whole concept of the store is different.”

Sherry Gates, a resident of Sun Valley, said she had been waiting patiently in line since 8 a.m. looking forward to “all the free stuff.”

“I just wanted to check it all out,” Gates said, with a laugh, as the final countdown sounded off.

Shopper Sigi Murphy-Law from Truckee, Calif. was in the parking lot getting ready to leave with her husband, Rob.

“It’s a beautiful store but it’s too expensive. Cabela’s is way cheaper,” Murphy-law said. She said her husband hunts and Cabela’s has more to offer him than Scheels, which she said is more sports and less hunting oriented than Cabela’s.

As the doors opened, the crowds rushed in and people craned their necks to see all around the large atrium-style structure filled with two 16,000-gallon aquariums, a baseball pitching simulator and the smell of fudge from Gramma Ginna’s deli and fudge shop, to name a few things.

Proving to be very much a family event, lines immediately formed for the 1930s model Ferris wheel at the center of the store. Upstairs the sound of laughter came from the simulated shooting galleries that were already getting their first official shots fired.

“It’s pretty wowing,” said Brand Kurk, a Reno resident out for a family outing with his wife and daughter. “When you walk in, it’s pretty amazing. We’re still taking it all in.”

Kurk’s wife, Renee, agreed, adding that the 35-foot Taxidermy Mountain is very impressive.

“I love the animals,” Renee said.

Amidst the organized chaos, store manager Larry Theis was busily helping customers, making sure the opening process went as smoothly as possible.

“It’s great so far,” Theis said about the opening morning before rushing off to help a customer.

Outside, traffic was continually controlled as the area quickly became congested. As of noon on Saturday, traffic was moving well with no major problems, Sparks Police Sgt. Pat Dyer said.

“Our main concern was traffic backing up onto I-80,” Sgt. Dyer said. “We anticipated up to 30,000 people (at Scheels).”

Dyer praised the redesign of Sparks Boulevard near the Legends project. There are now three turn lanes from north-bound Sparks Boulevard to west-bound Lincoln Way helping to move traffic into the shopping center.

A hot air balloon with a sign announcing the grand opening of Scheels lifted off the ground, visible to cars passing by on Interstate-80 and runners in the Truckee Meadows Tri Mania – Sprint Triathlon who circled the front of the store.