Carrolltown resident Dave Anna (at right) looks at a car on North Center Street during the 22nd annual Wheels and Wings event Thursday in Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

EBENSBURG — Despite some gray clouds and the potential for rain, the 22nd annual Wheels and Wings event had a great turnout, according to Danea Koss, the borough’s community development director.

This year, there were 17 food vendors lined up on West Sample Street, along with the Dauntless Fire Company’s beer tent and dozens of classic vehicles and motorcycles on display throughout the downtown area. Members of the Ebensburg Main Street Partnership were set up selling the official event T-shirt, which featured a design inspired by America’s semiquincentennial.

“It has a great following,” Koss said of Wheels and Wings, noting it’s always the partnership’s first event of the summer.

“We see a lot of familiar faces year after year, and it’s great to see so many people come into town and enjoy this event with us,” Koss said.

Although there was a chance of rain Thursday night, the event brought hundreds of people together in downtown Ebensburg for a night of fun.

Paul Hartline of Lilly Borough was among those enjoying the classic vehicles on display near the firehall.

Although he’s not able to attend Wheels and Wings every year, Hartline said he enjoys looking at the cars and motorcycles when he can make it to the event. He said he enjoys the many food vendors, too.

“They’re all good,” Hartline said of the food vendors.

This year, there were eight vendors participating in the event’s wing-off competition, including a former winner, the Castle Pub. Each vendor was allowed to submit entries for two categories in this year’s competition, Koss said.

Castle Pub manager Autumn Bracken said Wheels and Wings brings in a lot of people from the surrounding areas who don’t normally dine in downtown Ebensburg, which is great for her business, as well as others.

“It brings business for our bar because we get the service inside and then we do outside as well,” Bracken said.

Last year, the Castle Pub won for its “Cactus Jack” flavor, Bracken said, adding the restaurant decided to enter again into this year’s competition with a Blazing Bourbon flavor, which she described as a sticky and sweet honey with brown sugar.

Carrolltown resident Dave Anna said he’s been to every Wheels and Wings since the event started more than two decades ago, formerly as a precursor to Johnstown’s Thunder in the Valley event, which was canceled by organizers in 2023.

“It’s definitely an annual tradition,” Anna said. “I’ve been coming here a very long time.”

Anna said he usually enters his car into the event’s car, truck and bike show but decided against doing that this year, thinking it would rain.

“I just like to come up and look at the cars,” he said. “So, I’m just here checking it out and getting a bite to eat.”

From 5 to 10:30 p.m., a shuttle service brought more people in from the American Legion County fairgrounds.

Live music was provided by the Johnstown-based rock band, Octane, which performed songs from The Beatles, Guns N’ Roses, Green Day, Nirvana, Breaking Benjamin, Slipknot and others.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.