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Rally ’Round the Mouse, Boys One of my family’s early involvements with the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce was as volunteers with the Susquehanna Trail Pro Rally—STPR. My husband, Bob had always been interested in racing of any kind, and this rally through the woods caught his attention. The memory that most typifies what we all loved about the rally is the time we served as time keepers for one of the night stages. It was a family affair. Bob and I were parked near the exit to our stage. I was set to record the car times as they came in, and Bob would document their rally books. Our son Vern, who must have been about eight or nine years old at the time, was stationed up on the top of a gigantic table rock, within our sight but pretty much alone. His job was to blow a whistle when he saw the lights coming around the curve. In his concern about our son’s safety, Bob admonished Vern in his stern yet fatherly tone, “Don’t get off this rock! Even if a car were to go off the road and hit this rock, you are safe 10 feet up in the air above the road.” He stressed to Vern the seriousness of the responsibilities of being a mini-official. His whistle was our signal to take our stations at the finish line of our stage. Was he lonely and scared there on top of his high rock in the middle of the night, surrounded by the darkness and all of the mysterious noises of the deep woods? Yes, he was. But, we were to learn later, he was not really alone. A tiny field mouse had worked its way up to his tabletop rock and was watching him curiously from a safe distance. Vern found that if he put a piece of popcorn on the edge of the rock the mouse would venture out and dash up and snatch the unusual treat. The game was to get the mouse to come closer. Eventually, they established a zone of mutual trust, and the mouse would come up to sit and enjoy his treat without running away. Vern was a very responsible volunteer that night. He never failed to warn us of oncoming cars, and we ran a very responsible stage exit as a family. We took on varying degrees of responsibility with the STPR over the years. Bob was the Chief Scrutineer at one time, which involved organizing a group of local volunteers to conduct a safety inspection of each entrant’s car and to make sure they were in compliance with the technical rules of the race. The Tioga County Fairgrounds in Whitneyville was transformed into a one-day inspection station, where Bob’s team scrutinized each car for mechanical compliance to the rule book. I helped with registration of volunteers and assisted with the flagging off of the cars at the start point on Main Street in front of the courthouse. We all served as hosts of the rally welcome party for many years. Bob and I have retired to being enthusiastic spectators at this point, as other involvements required us to make choices. But our son, Vernon, has continued to be involved with the Rally over the years. For two years he was a pro rally truck mechanic and team member who traveled with the rally circuit from Wellsboro to California. He’s still involved with motor sports as a mechanic for vintage sports car racing, traveling the circuit from Canada to Florida. WHAT: Waste Management Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally Wellsboro resident Linda Williams is an occasional contributor to Mountain Home. |
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