Antique Machinery Show cranks up nostalgia
CENTRE HALL — Thousands of antique machinery enthusiasts and collectors are expected at this year’s Nittany Antique Machinery Association Spring Show & Consignment Sale scheduled May 28 to May 31.
The annual spring event is always held the Thursday after Memorial Day and lasts until Sunday. It is held at Penns Cave and Wildlife Park, 222 Penns Cave Rd., Centre Hall.
Sandra Berkey of NAMA said the spring show isn’t quite as big as the fall show, which is scheduled in September.
“The spring show does not have all of the demonstrations as the fall show does. Spring show is mainly set up for the consignment sale, which is held on Saturday.”
The show will have tractor pulls and the popular flea market, Berkey added. Additional events will include parades, equipment demonstrations, a children’s barrel train, farm toy displays and sales in the toy building.
The show gets bigger every year, drawing more crowds.
“The spring show will get a few thousand (attendees) and the Fall show can get up to 8,000 visitors,” Berkey said.
NAMA has been hosting these shows from their conception in 1975.
The spring show can have more than 300 tractors ad 100 small engine displays, compared to the 1,200 tractors and 250 small engines that are displayed in the fall.
Displays are often brought in by a variety of people — some are single owners and others are brought in by entire families. Some are local, and others have come in from as far away as North Carolina, Burkey said.
Those from out of town stay in local hotels or bring campers. The show provides both primitive sites and some with electric hookups for about 100 campers who will remain on site during the show.
She said displays sometimes are dependent upon the feature tractor. This fall, the star of the show will the Farmall/International Harvester. The hosts are showcasing the 60 series.
In addition to the displays, visitors can also visit the numerous food vendors and the flea market — which can be up to 300 in attendance.
And this event doesn’t happen by itself.
“It takes a village,” Burkey said. “(NAMA) has many committees which are manned by mostly volunteers.”
NAMA was established in 1975, by a goup of Centre County farmers who “wanted to share and preserve farming and rural living in the past,” Burkey said. “Not only tractors, but also other means of harvesting lumber, apple cider and apple butter, homemade ice cream and soups made in steam kettles.
“The show also is proud to include steam engines of the past as they were also used to run sawmills and cider presses.”
Burkey said NAMA includes a collection of both enthusiasts and collectors, with membership stretching from Maine to Florida and includes the Great Lakes states and the plains.
Daily admission is $5 per person from Thursday through Saturday. Children 11 and under are free. On Sunday, admission for everyone is free. There is also a church service on Sunday at 9 a.m.
