Congregating for King Coal
Mitzi and Gerry Bailey of Prosperity pose Saturday with their winning 1936 Ford pickup truck street rod at Charles Workman Memorial Car Show in Wana B Park.
Mike and Marylisa Dohanich, holding Mayzie, have hosted family and friends for the King Coal parade at their Carmichaels home for the past 15 years.
Members of the Carmichaels Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard march in the King Coal parade Saturday afternoon.
As the marching bands, antique cars, fire trucks and tractors started assembling at the start of the parade route in Carmichaels on a sunny Saturday afternoon, friends and family of Mike and Marylisa Dohanich assembled on the front porch and lawn of their Vine Street home like they have for the past 15 years watching for the King Coal parade to pass by.
The parade is the culmination of the 64th annual King Coal Show held each year in the borough. The King Coal Association, which runs the eight-day show, is made up of Carmichaels Chamber of Commerce, Carmichaels/Cumberland Township Volunteer Fire Department and Carmichaels Lions Club. The show was started in 1953 to focus attention on the area as the hub of the soft coal region.
“We bought the house in December of 2001,” said Mike Dohanich, former mayor and current councilman in the borough. “And, we have been having people over for the parade every year since that.”
“Once you are invited, you are always invited back,” he added. “The porch really gets packed just before the parade starts.”
The parade lines up and moves out at 4 p.m., winding through the borough before getting to the Dohanich home.
“We are blessed with a big tree on the corner of the lot that has provided protection from the rain over the years,” he said.
Marylisa Dohanich said they usually have 75 to 90 people. She starts planning a couple months before the parade.
A former classmate of Dohanich who made the trip from Potter County, Bruce Rutherford stood with Dohanich reminiscing about his days marching in the parade as a member of the Jefferson-Morgan High School band.
“It was the most dreaded parade when I was a member of the band,” Rutherford said.
The two men said the parade route is about 3 miles long. Dohanich said the weather for this year’s parade was nice and more comfortable, compared to last year when it was 98 degrees.
Also held on the final day of the show is the Charles Workman Memorial Car Show held at Wana B Park. Dozens of car and truck enthusiasts displayed their vehicles.
Mitzi and Gerry Bailey of Prosperity emerged as winners Saturday afternoon when Mitzi’s 1936 Ford pickup truck took first place in the street rod division. The couple often attend car shows, sometimes taking their 1967 Camaro. Next week, the couple will head to Cumberland, Md., for a show.
“We’ve been doing car shows for years,” said Mitzi. “This is a really nice one.”