Clarion’s 73rd annual Autumn Leaf Festival wrapped on Saturday, Oct. 10, after a week of parades, craft stalls, family activities and art downtown. The event had been scheduled to run through Sunday, Oct. 11, but organizers canceled the final day’s activities because of incoming weather, Explore Clarion reported Oct. 12. More than 100 volunteers helped across the festival, according to chamber director Tracy Becker, whose 40th year with the event gave her a close view of both the logistics and the returning faces.
The Clarion Area Chamber’s schedule spread events across the week rather than concentrating everything in one afternoon. It listed Touch-A-Truck and a kids’ carnival, a cornhole tournament, vehicle shows, junior athletics, a children’s parade, a craft market, the Tournament of Leaves Parade and a free oldies concert. The Oct. 3 Touch-A-Truck event at Clarion Mall was free and let children get behind the wheel of big rigs, fire trucks and construction vehicles.
Farmers & Crafters Day started before daylight. Becker told Explore Clarion that she began at 2:30 a.m., met helpers at the chamber office at 3, then went to mark downtown streets. She expected 16 volunteers she already knew were coming. Seven more people arrived to help, giving organizers extra hands to assign as vendors reached their spaces. The chamber had listed more than 250 crafters for the Friday market.
Becker said she hopes some volunteers eventually take on committee-chair, chamber-board or festival-chair roles. The report also noted that McDonald’s opened early to provide hot coffee for the Farmers & Crafters Day helpers.
The crowds also kept vendors busy. Becker recalled looking for a cinnamon roll one evening and learning the stand had sold out; Becker said the vendor told her 40 trays were on the way for the next day. When Becker returned the following morning, the vendor was already making more. The report said some food sellers went home or stopped at local grocery stores to replenish supplies.
Art had its own place in the week. The 67th Autumn Leaf Festival Art Show at the Main Street Center presented 111 works by 74 local artists. More than 500 ballots were cast for People’s Choice awards during the Oct. 3–10 voting period, according to Explore Clarion. Pam Hockman’s “Driftwood & Shells Whale” won Best of Show. In People’s Choice voting, Sarah Bashline won the student category, Kaleb Gooden the nonprofessional category and Emma Zacherl the professional category. The show gave local artists a public venue alongside the outdoor craft market, where hundreds of makers offered handmade and homemade goods.
The festival schedule also included Clarion County Community Bank FoodStock, an annual countywide collection benefiting Clarion County food banks. The chamber said the drive sought nonperishable, unexpired food through barrels and other collection efforts at businesses and communities around the county during September. A special drop-off was scheduled at Clarion Ford on Oct. 6, bringing the wider campaign into festival week.
Becker described the familiar side of the gathering too. Former board members and classmates stopped by the merchandise booth, and former Miss Teen participants returned as mothers. She watched families spanning three and four generations walk together. Her sister volunteered with her daughter and granddaughter. Becker said her husband, son, sister, brothers, nieces and great-nieces have also pitched in during her four decades with the festival.
The festival’s opening weekend brought families to Clarion Mall for Touch-A-Truck and the kids’ carnival, while musicians competed in the Pennsylvania State Old Time Fiddlers’ Contest and teams played cornhole downtown. On Sunday, cars and motorcycles lined Main Street as children took part in Junior Olympics at PennWest Clarion’s Memorial Stadium. Becker estimated that Autorama drew close to 250 vehicles; she did not have a motorcycle-show total, though she recalled seeing 20 or 30 bikes at one point, Explore Clarion reported.
This year’s theme, “Liberty, Legacy & Leaves,” connected the festival to local America 250 programming. Becker told Explore Clarion that the anniversary prompted additional activities, while university homecoming announcements also kept people downtown. On Saturday, the Tournament of Leaves Parade brought marching bands, floats and community groups through town, with local veterans serving as grand marshals. The work continues after the last booth closes: committees meet to review the events and decide what to keep, and Becker expected a new theme contest in early December, followed by a board vote in January and a logo contest.
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