Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes The year 1976 was a great time to be a senior in high school. We were 18-year-olds ready to go out and make our mark in the world, and our country was celebrating her Bicentennial (200th) birthday. Red, white and blue was everywhere, and Old Glory waved proudly in the wind across the nation. Most of us took Driver’s Ed in our Sophomore year, and this is where my love of driving started. Back then I never could have imagined it would be the career I would pursue for over 47 years before saying “I did my time on the road” and retired. Growing up in Newhall, Iowa, CB radios were popular back then and my parents had a base station. We would talk to the drivers running up and down 218 or across Hwy 30. Dad had a big antenna attached to the side of the house, and sometimes, while talking to drivers, we could “skip” to truckers as far away as California. It was pretty cool. Most of the truck manufacturers made special editions commemorating the Bicentennial. With their W900A conventional and K100C cabover, KW had these trucks sporting a red, white, blue and gold paint scheme. These 200 limited edition trucks featured special badging and introduced Kenworth’s first factory raised roof “Aerodyne” sleeper – called the VIT (Very Important Trucker). These Bicentennials are a prized truck in any collection, and there is one still out here working every day (Jay Van Kampen’s “Wooden Shoes” that was featured in our July 2023 issue). Peterbilt’s tribute trucks for the Bicentennial were 100 conventional 359s and 100 cabover 352s. Known as the “Patriot” edition, like the Kenworths, they featured distinctive white paint with red and blue stripes and custom dash plaques. Back in July 2018, our 10-4 Magazine contributor Stephanie Haas featured Bryan “Foxfire Cummins” Levernier and his 1976 Peterbilt 359 Patriot on our cover, which he bought new, and then drove until shortly before he passed away in January 2025 – almost 50 years! This truck was also featured on one of our 10-4 Magazine shirts. Looking back at the pictures from 1976, we wore hip-hugger bell bottom jeans with wide belts, mini-skirts, maxi dresses, platform shoes, peasant blouses with puffy sleeves, jumpsuits, and halter tops. Tweed, corduroy and polyester were the popular fabrics of the day. And if our clothes were cool (and they must have been because that stuff is back in style today), our cars were even cooler. Shag carpet, lava lamps, and who could forget those avocado and gold colored appliances! Most TVs were built into a wood cabinet, and you had to get up to change the channel – no remotes and no “channel surfing” back then (there were only 3 channels to choose from). Out in the school parking lot was a collection of muscle cars, a few big old boats, and pickup trucks. I bought my first car at the end of my senior year – a candy apple red 1969 Chevy Nova, with a 307 and a 3-speed on the floor. I paid $700 for her and yes, I do wish I still had it. Learning how to cook and sew in Home Economics class, I did not get the seamstress gene both my grandma’s had, it skipped me, but I was part of a group called Future Homemakers of America (FHA). We would make and sell “tea rings” as a fund raiser – homemade bread dough formed into cinnamon roll logs and baked in the shape of a ring. In Typing class, we had a mix of manual and electric IBM typewriters and used White Out correction fluid, not a backspace, to correct errors. Miss Long taught typing and was also in charge of yearbook. I was part of the Yearbook Staff for three years and I was an editor in my senior year. We changed the cover of the yearbook that year from our traditional blue and gold to brown with gold lettering and added 16 pages of history that were only available that year. The color change was not popular with a lot of alumni, and the yearbook went back to blue and gold the next year. We would sit on the floor in the east wing before class started in the morning and chat with classmates. Then, get what we needed out of our lockers, before we headed to our first class. Many plans were made in that hall – like when we 62 10-4 Magazine / July 2026 CLASS OF ‘76
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