SNOW SHOE — The calendar says autumn is beginning, but with the temperature near 80 degrees under brilliant sunshine, it felt more like mid-summer in Snow Shoe as the town’s Fall Festival and Car Show was held on Sept. 21 in Snow Shoe Park.
This annual event features a car and truck show; craft and flea market vendors; rows of stands selling food, fresh vegetables and flowers; and live performances by local bands. The festival drew a large crowd, filling the park’s parking areas, and overflowing with cars lined up for about 200 feet along state Route 144.
About 35 vendors filled the park for this popular event.
Cortney Dyke, of Marsh Creek, representing Cortney’s Collar Creations, is one such vendor that offered a unique line of handmade dog collars, harnesses and leashes. Dyke makes her products to fit dogs from Chihuahuas to German Shepherds, and every size between.
She also uses a wide variety of materials and patterns, ranging from solid colors to stripes, plaids, American flag designs, and some emblazoned with names and logos of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Penn State Nittany Lions for sports-minded canines. The collars feature non-rusting plastic snaps and adjusters for those back yard bathroom trips in wet weather.
Dyke said she has been making the pet products for about a year.
The car and truck show featured about 75 cars, trucks and motorcycles, nestled among the trees in the park. A steady stream of spectators viewed the vehicles throughout the day.
Parked out beside the Detroit iron and hot rods was a somewhat exotic 2003 Mercedes SL500 retractable hardtop coupe owned by Charlie Faris, of State College. Faris has made several upgrades to the car, including a Kleeman supercharger with intercooler, which gives the car more than 500 horsepower. Faris has raced the Mercedes in autocross races and it has served as a parade car, carrying the homecoming king and queen in a Penn State homecoming parade.
Faris likes the retractable metal top feature.
“It’s like having two different cars,” he said.
Faris said the MSRP of the Mercedes was over $100,000, but he bought it used.
“I could never afford it new,” he said.
Part of the vehicle show was a truck show, where professional truckers’ “big rigs” were on display. “I’ve got a bed, a microwave oven and a refrigerator in there,” said one driver from Strattanville. “Everything but the kitchen sink and a bathroom.”
At the end of a row was a particularly interesting truck, not for its size, but for its history. The Pine Glen Fire Company showed their 1957 Studebaker fire truck, which it bought new in 1957, and is still in service for the company. Fire company member Matt Schmoke said the truck cost $12,800 (about $116,000 in today’s money) in 1957.
The truck features a 289-cubic-inch Studebaker V8 engine with a four-speed manual transmission and two-speed rear end. Schmoke said that, surprisingly, parts for the Studebaker engine are still available, so the fire company has been able to keep the old Stude running well for 62 years. Schmoke said the truck took a Judges’ Choice award at the PA Pump Primers show in Harrisburg in 2017. The Pump Primers is an organization dedicated to the preservation of antique firefighting equipment.
