10-4 Magazine August 2023

10-4 Magazine / August 2023 55 his 1985 Liberty Edition K100E cabover, also with a 400 Cat and a 13 speed. We were lucky enough to get this pair of KWs together and take some photos. One of Kenworth’s 100th anniversary Signature Edition T680s was there, along with some of their Limited Edition W900L anniversary trucks. A special T680 Signature Edition truck that was recently delivered to Heartland Express was also at the show, and it represented the 750,000th Kenworth ever produced at the Chillicothe plant. Trucks began arriving onThursday, June 15, and were staged at Ross County Fairgrounds. Drivers enjoyed a seafood style boil for dinner. I arrived on Friday at the fairgrounds and started taking in all the trucks that had already arrived, that included some of the finest Kenworth trucks that have ever traveled the roads and highways of this beautiful country. After a look around, I headed to a tent that had been set up at the fairgrounds, that was filled with tables and chairs. There were several 15-passenger vans going back and forth to the plant for tours, and many of the invitees were able to partake in the fun. The weather was overcast and looked like it wanted to rain all weekend, but it never did. The Chillicothe planning team, under the leadership of Jack Schmitt, were great hosts for this show. They had lunch for us before we took a tour of the plant, and the people that took us through the plant gave us a well-guided tour with a lot of facts and information. After the tours we all headed back to the fairgrounds and had a very nice dinner with chicken, pork chops, green beans, baked beans, baked potatoes, and a roll. The meal also included dessert and water or pop to wash it all down. After dinner they had an awards ceremony for the drivers who were invited, and passed out really nice plaques, a grab bag filled with goodies, and a special 100th anniversary Kenworth bag. After taking pictures at the ceremony, I walked around and took more pictures and started talking to the drivers, which I love to do. I got the chance to talk to Chris Koeing of Oronoco, MN – he owns a