A most memorable kiss in remembrance at Cabin Fever Days

When Greg Vorhees first moved to Coram 25 years ago a woman and her family lived out behind the Packer’s Roost Bar in a school bus converted into a home.

That woman was Susan Peterson. “Crazy Susie” to those that knew her. Vorhees and Peterson would become best of friends. She would talk him into buying the defunct bar and would be one of his bartenders for years.

This year’s Cabin Fever Days will remember Peterson’s spirit. She died in September at the age of 56.

“She was a great bartender,” recalled Shawn Betters, a longtime patron of Packer’s Roost. “She was always happy go lucky. She was never in a bad mood.”

Peterson’s enthusiasm for life extended to Cabin Fever Days where Peterson first started a kissing booth to raise funds for the Canyon Kids Christmas Fund. The kissing booth didn’t last, but Peterson’s kisses did — if you were a male at the Bar Stool Races and you didn’t have a big red lipstick kiss on your cheek, then Peterson hadn’t seen you.

“She had a great outgoing personality,” Vorhees recalled. “She’d look for people without kisses. She’d try to kiss every cheek.” 

Her license plate hangs on the wall in the bar, 2CRZE4U. This year’s Cabin Fever Days, in its 38th year, are in honor of Peterson. A special $3 entrance button, required to attend all events, features a photo of Peterson. T-shirts honoring Peterson will also be on sale.

This year’s event starts Friday and runs through Sunday with the showcase bar stool races at Sugar Hill in Martin City starting with qualifying runs at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and finals at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Participants should not drink and drive. Folks can park their car and use the event shuttle to travel between events located at the DewDrop Inn, Stonefly Lounge, Packers Roost, Deerlick Saloon, Southfork Saloon and Dam Town Tavern.  Buttons will be available at all these locations and on the shuttle itself.

Great food and tasty beverages will be available at numerous locations and, if folks do happen to over-indulge, there will be a sober chauffeur service available to ensure they arrive home safely.

In addition to the bar stool races there are several live music shows Friday night, snowshoe softball in Martin City at 3 p.m. Saturday and an arm wrestling tournament at the Stonefly Lounge Saturday at 4 p.m.

A complete schedule and registration forms for the bar stool races can be found at www.cabinfeverdays.com.

All profits from the weekend go to local charities such as the Canyon Quick Resource Unit, Martin City Volunteer Fire Department and more.