76th Pennsylvania Maple Festival starts off steady despite cooler temperatures

The 76th Pennsylvania Maple Festival started off on a rainy and cold note this past weekend in Meyersdale.

But, organizers and volunteers were optimistic and related that things were steady despite the drop in temperatures and intermittent rain. The festival will resume on Wednesday and continue through Sunday.

"The weather was definitely challenging and probably more so on Sunday but in the long run, people are looking to visit fairs and festivals again and want that hometown feel," said Melissa Friend Blocher, festival president. "We had tourists who came from outside the area who wanted to enjoy a day at the Maple Festival and our numbers were still good."

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Grace Oakes, director in charge of the annual Quilt Show held at the Meyersdale Fire Department, couldn't agree more. She related that a tourist from Lancaster County on Saturday was in awe of the show. She also reported that attendees came from Pittsburgh, Johnstown and Altoona on a weekend that may not have been the best weather but still serves as a family tradition.

"The visitor from Lancaster County said that our quilts here were of better quality than those in his county," said Oakes. "That was quite the compliment to hear. And, it gives recognition to our local talent who bring their quilts to this show and sometimes spend a year or more in the design and making. They deserve all the credit."

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The quilt show is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Since its establishment in 1976, the annual quilt show has been a popular annual attraction for many. The quilt show and the boutique are open to the public throughout the Festival. There are displays of hand and machine-quilted, traditional and modern quilts, wall hangings, home decorating accessories and much more.

There is also a quilt raffle every year.

The Lions Pancake Shack across the street from the Quilt Show and housed in the Meyersdale T.G. Saylor Community Center may not have been hopping with diners this past weekend but things were still steady.

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Barry Yoder and Dave Lauver oversee the Meyersdale Lions project every year for the Meyersdale Lions Club and related that crowds were still steady throughout the weekend because the Pancake House is a warm and dry place to go. Yoder said that last year the Lions made eight roasters of sausage the first day and this year they ended Saturday with nine so all in all, business was good.

"Things were somewhat slower than what we like because some people may have decided to stay at home but we still had local visitors and people from outside the area," said Blake Henry, treasurer for the Meyersdale Lions Club. "One tourist from Morgantown, West Virginia, rode the bike trail in 2019 and always wanted to come back to visit the Maple Festival."

The Lions Pancake Shack will once again serve pancakes, sausage and local maple syrup from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday to Friday with community night being held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Throughout the years, $1 million has been raised from the pancakes and sausage project. All the proceeds of this fundraising venture has been returned to the community to purchase supplies from local businesses and to support many community organizations. Currently the Lions are focused on two main projects: the improvement of the T.G. Saylor Community Center and the continuing management of scenic Maple Valley Park. Hundreds of hours of volunteer time and thousands of dollars has most recently been put into the community center through the Meyersdale Lions in order to improve the facility for all times of year. Dinners will be served in take-out containers but seating is available inside and outside as well.

At Maple Festival Park this past weekend, the initiation of a new trough for sugar cakes took place.One longtime festival volunteer, Chuck Dively, who has volunteered making sugar cakes since 1982 before the Sugar Shack was even built by the mid-1980s and who volunteered in the Cobbler Shop before that, had recently taken on a big project. The wooden trough that Dively used faithfully every year to make sugar cakes for visitors gradually started to decay underneath because of what Dively believed to be Powder Post beetles although he never saw any of the insects visually. After last year's festival, the decision was made that a new trough was necessary.

George Pyle, a former festival president, made a trip last year to Jay Compton, who lives near Salisbury and is in the lumber business, to reserve a cucumber tree, or otherwise called a Magnolia. That type of tree has been used for generations in old-time sugar camps for this purpose because of its hardiness. Cucumber trees are also used for furniture making.

"I've known Jay Compton for 35 years and I told him after the last festival we needed a new trough. He told me he would find a cucumber tree," said Pyle.

Dively received the cucumber log that was split by the Amish last fall and he started working on it in the past few months to hollow it out in time for the festival. The finished project was delivered to the park last week and put into place.

"It's hard to make a trough," laughed Dively, vice president of the board. "I started out with chisels and ended up using a chainsaw and grinder and then sanding. It had to be done. The Sugar Shack is a popular place during the festival and everyone wants spotza and maple cakes."

Last Friday, the Maple King was selected after a competition of maple products judged by Robert Hansen of Tiwonda in Bradford County. Cody Lynch of Baer Brothers Maple Camp won this year's maple king. The Lynch family work together as a family unit with parents Mike and Sherry and sons, Cody and Reagan. Last year, Baer Brothers won champion syrup. This year's champion syrup award went to Emerick's Maple of Southampton Township.

To enter for the king competition, the exhibitor must decide upon eight of the 10 classes to enter for the title when registering. Not more than eight classes will be accepted for the title but can be entered separately for prize competition.

The Grand Feature Parade will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday with the parade route along Beachley Street (form-up at 11th Avenue) to Center Street and dispersal on Broadway Street. This year, two Baltimore, Maryland, bands are back by popular demand.

"Legend of the Magic Water" the longtime historical pageant of the festival will be at Morguen Toole Company as the main event venue in Meyersdale for a dinner theater performance at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evening.

The pageant changed from the high school to Morguen Toole in 2019 and then because of space limitations that did not allow for social distancing in 2021, it was cancelled. Last year, it came back with a strong attendance.

The Antique, Classic & Street Rod Auto Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. This car show made its debut at the festival in 1961 and since that time, the show has grown larger in size. There are no license plate restrictions and no inclement weather cancellations. Also, dash plaques will be given to the first 75 registered vehicles.

The annual Doc Barnett Memorial Horse Pull will be held this year at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Somerset County Fairgrounds. This event gains regional attendance with teamsters traveling from New York, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina and sometimes contestants coming from as far as Wisconsin and Florida. It is the first pull of the spring and oftentimes, horsemen want to get their teams out to a contest after winter. The Warnick family of Garrett County, Maryland, will be honored with the "Ring of Honor" award prior to the horse pull.

This year's Maple Race 5K Run/Walk or 8K Run will be held Saturday at the Meyersdale Train Station on the Great Allegheny Passage out and back. Awards will be given out to the top three males and females in each event.

The Antique Tractor and Farm Show will showcase steam and farm tractors, gas engines, walk-behind and garden tractors from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday inside Festival Park. Also, special farm tractor games will be held Sunday of the festival. Tractor exhibits will be accepted at the Festival Park Complex from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Friday.

There is also live entertainment on the park stage with groups like Blind Lane, Perry Kamp and Kompany, Meyersdale High School Jazz Band, Fendor Ridge, Studio 7 School of Dance, J.D. Ross and Katelyn Rose Band all on the schedule.

"The thing that is most important about the Pennsylvania Maple Festival is community volunteerism," said Friend. "I am so appreciative that the whole county comes together to make this event possible. It's not just Meyersdale but people who are volunteering from other communities as well because every volunteer believes in the purpose of the festival."

See the festival's Facebook page and website at pamaplefestival.com for updated information as events and activities are confirmed.

Also, those with questions, should contact the festival office at 814-634-0213 or via email at pamaple@verizon.net.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Maple festival kicks off in Meyersdale