Johnstown, PA (WJAC) — Last year, after 25 years, the main organizer of one of Johnstown’s biggest events, “Thunder in the Valley,” stepped down.
The move left the future of the event up in the air, but now, a local business owner is working to put on a similar event.
Pat Martella, the owner and manager of Stadium Pub and Grille, says the new event he is looking to put on is called “Rumble through the Valley” and he needs help.
“Right now, we’re trying to put a grass roots effort together to form another rally, another event in town. It’s not going to be like Thunder in the Valley, we’re going to make it a smaller scale. Sort of like it was 25 years ago,” Martella said.
After a quarter of a century, Visit Johnstown made the decision to step away from Johnstown’s beloved motorcycle rally “Thunder in the Valley.”
“The people from Visit Johnstown have done a great job in the last 25 years putting that together and it’s no small task and we know that within 5 months, nothing we do is going to compare to what they’ve done.”
Martella adds that the event would also undergo a name change due to trademark issues.
“It’ll be under a different name; it’ll be Rumble Through the Valley. Thunder in the Valley is still a trademark of Visit Johnstown.”
Martella says he knows how special “Thunder in the Valley” was, not only to bikers, but the Johnstown community overall.
“They bring the bikes in, fill up the hotels, fill up the bars, fill up the restaurants, fill up the boutiques that we have downtown. I think a lot of people don’t realize the number of businesses that are downtown so to bring that batch of new people in, open up the city.”
Martella says he has never put on an event like this before and is in need of local help.
“We’re looking at doing it in a small scale and hopefully build up from there.But I think we can bring something into this town that people want and not to say they didn’t want Thunder in the Valley, it’s been one of the largest events in this county for years and with that not being here, we’re looking for something to put in its place.”
Over time, Martella says he would love to see Rumble in the Valley grow, similar to how Thunder in the Valley did.
“I have some bike enthusiasts from Erie, Chambersburg, Cumberland that are looking to come in. They say they’ll give us a shot. So, we want to make sure it’s a good shot to have. We’re hoping 25 years from now that somebody else is looking at a camera saying we made it 25 years. I’ll be happy just getting through the first year and seeing it grow from there, seeing the response that we have.”
Martella says he's looking for any groups willing to step up and help.
“One thing I can always say is, I’m trying. I’m trying to do something.”
Martella also says Rumble through the Valley would take place the same weekend as Thunder in the Valley normally would; this year that’s June 20th through the 23rd.
If you are interested in helping Martella organize this event, you can contact him here.
As for Thunder in the Valley itself, 6 News reached out to Visit Johnstown last week and were told “there is no entity that has definitively taken over the operation of Thunder in the Valley.”
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