10-4 Magazine December 2024

Truck Show Report: By Frank Strohmyer an area easily accessible by everyone at the show, along with a few tents, where he was serving food for a donation. He even had tables and chairs set up behind the food line, underneath those tents, for the people to sit and eat. Fred was able to raise $1,851 which he donated to the DMF Foundation. Great job, Fred! Kyle Weaver of Wooster, OH came out to the show with his stunning 1981 brown Kenworth W900A extended hood. This was his second show, and he still had a few things that needed to be done to finish the truck, but he walked away with Best of Show in the Bobtail class – and deservingly so. Completely redone inside and out with an electronic Cat, a twin stick 18-speed set up, brand new interior, a clean dashboard, and a As we started fall and left summer behind, truck show season was winding down, but there were some good shows this year. One such show was the annual DMF-OH Cancer Benefit, which was a great way to not only raise money for a good cause, but also a fun way to hang out with some great people and see some awesome trucks. This year’s show was the 4th annual event, held on September 21, 2024, at Portage County Fairgrounds in Randolph, Ohio, and I am looking forward to many more years of fun. Northeast Ohio experienced a rather dry late summer this year, like so many other parts of the country. The weather forecast for that week called for no rain, but on the day of the show, a 20% chance of showers popped up on the radar. Thankfully, the rain never came, which made it a great day to attend this event, even though the temperature got up to a very warm 82 degrees that day. The DMF Foundation is a 501c3 organization that honors the memory of Denise Marie Flaherty and supports individuals affected by cancer, providing emotional and financial support to local families fighting cancer. Beneficiaries receive financial assistance to help with medical bills, basic needs, bucket list trips, educational trusts, and more. This year’s event netted $37,000 for the cause and had 147 registered trucks. Although trucks were down a bit this year and the money raised was a bit less, too, people still had a good time, and it was an awesome event to attend. In my opinion, I believe the down economy was much to blame for the downward turn in participation. I have seen attendance down at a lot of the truck shows I went to this year. Hopefully, as we say here in Northeastern Ohio, “Just wait until next season!” Another reason attendance was down a little was also because the Kuhnle Brothers Fall Brawl, an uphill truck drag racing event, was scheduled for the same weekend just an hour away from this event. Regardless, it’s great to see a bunch of local truck owners and drivers come out and support this event that gives back to benefit those locally with cancer. Fred Lauck Jr. has participated in this event since the beginning and does more and more each year. Being the owner of RWHaulers of Tallmadge, OH, we met after the first event and stayed in contact. Fred always tells me what he wants to do for the next show each time after the show has ended. And Fred is a man of his word – if he says it, he does it. This year he had his trucks parked in 54 10-4 Magazine / December 2024 FOUR YEARS OF FUN