BY CAMERON WERTZ
Celebrating its 72nd year, Tower Porter Old Home Week will be held Monday through June 29 at Dale W. Deiter Memorial Midway, 1 Midway Road, Tower City.
The location is the same as previous years, but it has a new name. After being acquired by the Tower Porter Improvement Organization from the American Legion, the site was dedicated to Deiter, former Tower City mayor and local businessman.
After the property was “vandalized terribly” and the organization paid a lot of money on security cameras and revitalizing the site, members of the American Legion unanimously voted to hand the grounds over to the TPIO.
Admission to the carnival is free, and will be open from 6 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to midnight Saturday.
Stocked full with rides, games, entertainment, bingo, food and fireworks, the event is put together annually by the TPIO, “a very hard-working and dedicated committee,” Peter Hoffman, treasurer, said.
Members of the group include Dave Kessler, president; Ed Bohr, vice president; Penni Schadle, secretary, and Angie Bixler, webmaster. An additional “20 committee members help to make this event happen each year for the community,” Hoffman said.
“It’s a pretty big event anymore. It (the carnival) dwindled down for a few years, but it’s returned to its former glory days of the ’70s,” he said.
There will be 15 rides, local games and vendors. Live entertainment, starting at 7 p.m. every night, will feature bands from the area, including Rhythm & Brews, Pine Grove, on Monday; Whiskey Shooter & Brooke Unger, Millersburg, on Tuesday; Fallen Pride on Wednesday; Sapphire, Minersville, on Thursday; Shotgun, Lykens Valley, on Friday and on Saturday, Close Enough, Tower City, from 1 to 4 p.m. and Deuce from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Returning this year is the Car Shine and Show, starting at 1 p.m. Saturday. There will be a special parking area for cruisers and free sheets of food tickets will be available for those who register. For free registration, call Matt Walmer at 717-507-6692 or email mattwalmer@gmail.com.
At 10:45 p.m. Saturday, they will set off the “annual fireworks extravaganza.”
For more information on the carnival, visit the events website, www.tpoldhomeweek.org, or its Facebook page, Facebook.com/tpoldhomeweek.
The Old Home Week Committee would also like to thank the hundreds of people who volunteer their time each year working the carnival.
Contact the writer: cwertz@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6004
