By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

COLLYER -- Don't forget to put Collyer on your calendar for Sept. 12.

That's when the fifth annual Collyer Fall Street Festival and Custom Car and Tractor Show is scheduled.

That's also when the Trego County community will grow -- at least for a day -- by 2,908 percent.

Last year, said Collyer Community Alliance President Donna Malsom, the town grew from its day-to-day population of 133 residents to nearly 4,000 people.

"I expect the fifth year to be very good," Malsom said of the upcoming evening.

A variety of activities are slated, not the least of which will be more than 100 show-quality cars. Last year, 117 came from as far as 300 miles away.

Craft booths will be on hand in the park, as will a variety of food booths. Raffles and games also are on tap.

All the while, the festivities will be treated to music from a DJ.

"It could be one of the bigger car shows in the area," Malsom said of the event.

Profits from the event go to help the community alliance, a non-profit organization that is working to help restore several buildings in the community, including a sod house at the south end of town. The group also is working to raise money to buy a fire engine that once offered protection to the community.

The sod house, Malsom said, is being restored enough so its roof can be fixed. That way, she said, it will be protected from the elements and can be restored fully as money is available.

Money for that work is coming from a $30,000 grant issued by the Dane Hansen Foundation in Logan.

"This is our big event of the year," Malsom said of the Fall Street Festival as a fundraising venture. The group has other events, such as the weekly fish fry during Lent, but the upcoming event overshadows those efforts.

Last year's event, she said, brought in nearly 4,000 people.

"Our street vendors ran out of food," she said. "One had some left, but not much."

A survey of cars -- other than those in the car show -- indicated people were attending from 13 states.

"It's kind of phenomenal to see so many people there."

And the entries in the car show come from people who enjoy the benefits of small-town life, she said.

They might not get the full recognition made possible by a car show in Denver, Malsom said, "but they have fun."

They also vie for 70 trophies, five more than were awarded last year.

* Activities begin at 10 a.m. More information on the event is available online at www.CollyerKs.com.