— From start to finish, the 15th edition of Johnstown’s Thunder in the Valley oozed of success.

And why not?

Another huge, perhaps record crowd; riding opportunities our visitors were gushing over; top-notch entertainment; an abundance of vendors – and how about the weather?

Some attendees were advancing the notion that Mother Nature surely was a biker herself.

But the real show-stealer had to be the newly refurbished Peoples Natural Gas Park, one of this year’s four downtown venues. While locals smiled proudly, visitors were nodding enviously.

“Honestly, if we didn’t have that extra venue, I’m not sure how we would have been able to hold everyone,” Lisa Rager, executive director of the sponsoring Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Convention & Visitors Bureau, told our David Hurst on Sunday.

Hats off to Peoples Natural Gas Co. and the park’s owner, Johnstown Area Heritage Association. Our region has another jewel at which to stage concerts and other events.

By noon Monday, cleanup had been completed throughout much of the downtown and at the outlying Thunder stops in Richland, Windber, Ebensburg and Greenhouse Park at Tire Hill.

Despite overflowing crowds in the downtown Friday night and all day Saturday, city public works staffers and hired and volunteer workers kept the mess at a minimum.

“Judging from the amount of trash, I’d say (Thunder) was another success,” an admittedly exhausted Rager said on Monday morning.

Bikers in large numbers rolled in from Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and from states as far away as South Carolina, Michigan, Indiana   – and even Wisconsin, Florida and Canada.

It was quite a gathering of bikers and bike enthusiasts.

Among the new attractions was the nationally known Broken Spoke Saloon, which set up at Peoples park and at the Train Station venue.

By offering beer only at those two locations, the CVB and police were able to keep much of the rally drinking across the Little Conemaugh River and off streets in the Central Business District.

“We’re meeting with Broken Spoke today (Monday),” Rager said, “but I think we’re off to a good start and we’d like them back next year and I think they feel the same.” 

While not all of the vendors were happy, obviously, most were understanding that less-than-abundant sales weren’t a fault of the rally itself.

“A lot of people here, but not a lot of people buying,” third-year vendor Nami Spall of Atlanta said. “With the economy, things were slow this year.”

Once again, the really good news was that there were few serious accidents and very little trouble, something that thankfully has been a trademark of this family-friendly rally.

City police and Cambria 911 officials reported no significant problems – just a handful of public drunkenness incidents – over the weekend related to the event, Hurst reported in our Monday editions. 

That kept in line with what on-call District Judge Michael Musulin of Johnstown had predicted.

“I don’t expect to be busy,” he said a few days before the rally’s start. “I haven’t been over the years with Thunder in the Valley. The only trouble usually comes from a couple of the locals who’ve had too much to drink.”

We again commend the CVB staff, emergency responders, generous Thunder sponsors and the many volunteers.

We also acknowledge those who don’t enjoy the disruptions and noise that come with Thunder, but are understanding of the tremendous economic boost provided by this annual event.

Cowds of happy people filling downtown streets can be very heartwarming for many of the older generations who remember Johnstown’s stronger days.

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