10-4 Magazine August 2023

56 10-4 Magazine / August 2023 1998 W900L 75th Anniversary Limited Edition Kenworth. The truck was used to haul the special Kenworth trailer for the 75th anniversary tour. The truck only has 46,000 miles on it, and the 75th anniversary trailer that was used on that tour is now being used for the 100th anniversary tour! Josh Lemke brought his mint green 2020 W900L, which is fitted with a cool stainless steel sleeper, a 605 Cummins X15, and an 18 speed automatic transmission, along with a matching stainless trailer behind it. Aaron Kimball is the usual driver of this truck, but since he couldn’t make it to the show, I had a great time talking to Josh and his wife and son, instead. During the entire event, there was a video crew interviewing many of the Kenworth owners, hired by Kenworth, and from what I was told, they are going to produce a special video for the 100th anniversary. The video crew seemed to be everywhere during this event, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with. Quiet on the set! Apparently, their sensitive microphones could pick up a conversion from across the street. Another person I got to meet was Colby Williams of Fueled Photography. He actually came up and introduced himself to me! He does great work and has done a lot for Kenworth (and is a great friend to 10-4 Magazine). If you have seen the 100th anniversary W900L brochure, and seen that shot in front of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, that is his work. Saturday morning the trucks were moved from the fairgrounds over to the assembly plant. The weather was just beautiful, with clear skies and a very comfortable temperature. And with that, Kenworth Family Day 2023 officially began. I think the employees and their families started showing up around 9:00 AM. Employees who work in the plant got to see the trucks that have once gone down their assembly line (or another). I talked to one family there that had three generations of workers at the plant. It was great to see them comment on the trucks that were at the show and the effort that it took to build them, and cool to watch the Kenworth employees and Kenworth owners interact. By the time I arrived that morning, some trucks were already staged, and more were still coming in. I made my rounds, taking pictures and talking to some of the Kenworth owners, such as Debbie Setter of Fargo, ND (featured in our March 2022 edition). We talked a lot about her 2019 W900L, and about her mom and dad. I really enjoyed talking to her – she definitely made me laugh. Then, later, I talked with Jeremy Jansen of Wayne, NE who brought his 2022 W990 with a 565 Cummins, an 18 speed, 3.25 rears, and a 303” wheelbase. He was at MATS last year, and it was the only W990 at the show. I finally got to meet Adam Kimball of Cumming, GA who drives a white 1997 W900L with an Aerodyne One sleeper. This is a very clean truck with an N-14 Cummins, an 18 speed, and a 260” wheelbase. Towards the end of the show, I was talking with Tom Strese of Farmington, MN who owns a 1989 T600A. Back in the days, Canepa designed this truck, which was popular with a lot of racing teams in the late 80s and early 90s. The truck is black now, but it was originally red. As we were talking, he introduced me to Gary Ries of Hastings, MN who had brought a few trucks, including a 1974 K125 with only 539 miles on it! He also brought Tyrone Malone’s 1974 W900 “Super Boss” truck, along with a truck called “Bounty Hunter” which was featured on 10-4 Magazine’s July 2009 cover before Gary owned it. Gary is definitely a true gearhead with all the vehicles he owns, and I truly enjoyed meeting him and talking to him. Another guy I hadn’t seen for some years was Paul Cox. I got to meet him back in 2017 at the TFK show in California. It was great seeing him and talking to him again. On his way to Chillicothe from the ATHS show that was held in Reno, NV he blew a turbo 18 miles outside of Chillicothe. He limped it in, and then on Friday afternoon, with the help of other drivers, he got another turbo and got his 1979 K100 Aerodyne running again (this truck was featured on 10-4 Magazine’s June 2019 cover). Paul invited John O’Shea from Ireland to come with him on his trip from Reno to Chillicothe. Paul offered John a chance to drive, but he declined that offer. John bought a 1980 K100C Aerodyne several years ago from here in the states, and then had it shipped to Ireland. For the Kenworth employees and their families, the show went until 4:00 PM. At that point, after the employees cleared out, the trucks started moving toward the huge Kenworth sign that is mounted on the front of the factory to have pictures taken. From there, the trucks headed back to the staging area, preparing for the convoy through town. The Kenworth team provided pizzas and refreshments for the drivers and their families, before heading out for the evening convoy through Chillicothe. Heading to downtown Chillicothe where the parade was going to be held, I couldn’t believe the number of people that showed up – it was way more than the previous year, for sure! All 50 of the invited trucks were in the parade. They had a route set up like last year that took them on a path through downtown and eventually put them in front of the iconic Majestic Theatre. This theatre was built in 1853 and marked the beginning of better entertainment in the city. Aspeaker announced the driver’s name and where they were from, along with the year and model of their truck. It provided a