Engines roar at Portersville Steam Show
The thrum of moving gears, metal squeaking and engines roaring echoed across the Portersville Steam Show on Sunday, and that’s the way they like it.
Part of Sunday’s particular cacophony came from a tractor-pulling contest, one of many over the show’s four days.
“I’ve been coming here since I was born,” said one of the contestants Brad McKinney, of Portersville. “I love it. I grew up doing this stuff.”
Revving up at the starting line, a tractor lurched forward pulling a large, heavy sled behind it. At points of great emphasis, the tractor would rear back onto its larger back wheels.
A stack of weights added to the tractor’s front end appeared to keep the tractor balanced in that position, which ultimately allowed it to pull the sled a great distance.
McKinney said his love of the tractor pull started when he and friends performed the activity as children at the show, and now his two daughters participate, too.
McKinney said the show is a family tradition at this point, and he likes to help out whenever he can to promote it and keep it going.
“I think it’s awesome for our community. People come from all over the place to be here. They just come down to have fun,” he said. “It’s a lifestyle for us.”
According to organizers, poor weather and a declining economy affected attendance this year, but they were excited all the same.
“It started off slow Thursday. Friday, it picked up; and Saturday was slammed,” said Don Fuechslin, president of the nonprofit organization running the show. “It was bopping good.”
Fuecheslin said all the big attractions maintained their level of popularity this year, including the flea market, the saw mill and the animal barn.
Supervised by her parents, Kaia Shaffer, 3, of Harmony, moseyed around the animal barn, petting a couple dogs and horses, the latter through their wooden enclosures.
“She likes the show,” said Tiffani Shaffer, her mother. “She likes the tractors and the animals.”
Other attractions that drew crowds were the train rides for the children, the antique tractors and the print shop, which may receive a new type of attention soon.
The show’s print shop is managed by Larry Vorpe of Kittanning and Wayne Young of Fombell, both of whom are slated to appear in an upcoming film along with their mechanical marvels.
The film, called “Unsinkable” will be about a journalist who self-published investigative articles about the sinking of the Titanic.
“They looked everywhere to find a print shop like this,” Vorpe said. “We’re extras. Wayne and I will be over on a press or setting something up in the background like in the manner they would do in 1912.”
Vorpe said he and his partner also will serve as technical advisors, applying their knowledge about the six different machines that all perform letterpress printing.
Letterpress printing is a technique of printing where the words are composed on movable types, pressed into ink and then pressed into paper to create multiple copies.
“They all do basically the same thing but different,” said Vorpe as he pointed to all the machines in the shop.
Many people stop at the shop during the show, and they receive a technical explanation about how the presses work. Vorpe said preserving that knowledge is important, especially as printing and other jobs like have been handed off to those in the digital age.
“It’s going, going, going, and soon it’s going to be gone,” Vorpe said. “The basic principle of printing remained the same since the 1400s with (Johannes) Gutenburg and his machine. That you have to keep alive for future generations.”
Like the print shop, the Portersville Steam Show is filled with great works of mechanical items that at one time spurred innovation, and for decades it has continued to showcase and preserve those traditions.
Fuecheslin said as it does every year, all the funds raised go back into preserving the machines and other maintenance needed to keep the show running.
He said hopefully, they will get another good turnout for their Fall Apple Festival, running Oct. 1 to 2, which will feature apple cider, apple treats and an antique car rally, among other activities.
“Gas and fuel. Just keeping things running,” Fuecheslin said. “Some of the buildings just need some love and care. That’s all.”
