Annual car show benefits Cambria fire department

NORTHERN CAMBRIA, Pa. (WTAJ) — Over 300 cars blocked the streets of Northern Cambria Sunday for the town’s annual car show.

Hosted by the Hope Fire Company, the annual car show started 39 years ago.

“Small I mean, it was different. We were the new kid on the block,” said Bruce Moriconi, President of the fire company.

That’s how Moriconi described their very first car show, back in 1985. Fast forward to now, and the fire department said they never expected it to grow this much.

Matt Barczak is the Assistant Chief of Hope Fire Company. His father Pete, who’s currently the Fire Chief, is the one who started the car show. Pete said that at the time he was a firefighter, but he saw the clear need for funding.

“The contracts that we have with the municipalities that we cover, cover you know, roughly about 12% of our operating budget. So it’s up to the departments to raise, you know, 82% of our budget just to pay our bills for the year, you know, and have some reserve money put away, you know, for the growth of the fire department and sustainability. So yeah, we got to do events like just this to meet our expenses for the year,” Barczak said.

Michele Paronish and her family have attended the car show since it started. This year, with her family and friends, they brought nine cars to display. With so many car shows in Central Pennsylvania, Michele told us why she always picks this one.

“Well, we’re from the town and this is something that we want to give back to the community and support the firehouse. So it’s just nice for us here,” she said.

Tim Hoover lives in Westmoreland County, but travels to Northern Cambria to show his antique vehicles.

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“Through the years this has been a very good show and a lot of people attend it. I enjoy educating people about the history of antique trucks,” said Hoover.

All proceeds from the car show will go towards the fire department.

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