COBLESKILL — The Schoharie County Fairgrounds will turn into a military camp this weekend when the annual Wings, Wheels and Tracks show of militaria hobbyists and collectors opens at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Fuel prices are expected to limit some participants from distant states from trucking their aging vehicles of wars past to this year’s show, according to event spokesman Bob Muller.

He said local and regional collectors are expected to make up the difference. Depending on the weather, up to 80 vehicles are expected to join the show, he said.

More than a dozen vehicles were already lining up at the fairgrounds Thursday.

Despite the high fuel costs for flatbed trucks to haul some vehicles, “We’re still anticipating a few trucks coming from Connecticut, and some from northern Pennsylvania,” Muller said.

Some of the Connecticut vehicles are expected to include Vietnam War-era gun trucks, which were field-modified 2 1⁄2-ton trucks.

A parade sponsored by the Cobleskill Area Veterans celebrating Armed Forces Day is scheduled to roll down Main Street from the Price Chopper plaza to the fairgrounds starting at 3 p.m. Saturday.

A popular evening dance and performances from last year’s show will return with local Lions Clubs from Cobleskill-Richmondville and Schoharie-Wright hosting a 1943 USO show replicating the dance and music shows that entertained war-weary troops during World War II.

The show will feature the Cooperstown-based, 15-piece Small Town Big Band for dancing, as well as the Depot Lane Singers from Schoharie.

The $8 cover charge for the show, set for 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, will benefit the Fort Drum USO, which entertains and helps members of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

The division has been actively involved in much of the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Last year, the show raised $2,000 for the Fort Drum USO, Muller said.

Admission to the Wheels and Tracks show will cost $5. The show runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Those wishing to attend only the benefit USO show in the Progressland building on the fairgrounds need only pay the show cover charge.

Muller is hoping, however, that military and history buffs will take the opportunity to visit the Wings, Wheels and Tracks events.

Aside from static displays of military vehicles and military memorabilia, several live encampments or displays will show how soldiers lived during various wartime periods.

A large World War I exhibit will include a living history display, Muller said.

Inside Progressland, military history buff Robert Sikes will include authentic uniforms and “a typical doughboy encampment” to show how the World War I soldiers known as doughboys lived, Muller said.

A World War II history will include a mock field kitchen and communications center like those on the battlefields, he said.

Muller will lead an 11 a.m. Saturday session on war dogs “to explain the bonds that developed between military dogs and troops, from Roman times to Iraq.”

Dogs have been widely used for guarding and other duties in various wars, including today.

“Some of the most compelling stories,” come from the Vietnam War when dogs were used to help warn of the enemy along with the “point man” probing the jungles and rice paddies on combat patrols.

Another new feature is expected to be a 10 a.m. Sunday talk by state Parks and Recreation Department historian Ann Harrison on the pre-World War II military-style Civilian Conservation Corps.

The Depression-era CCC camps helped the military in training troops when the war started, since CCC participants had already lived a semi-military lifestyle, Muller said.