10-4 Magazine November 2023

10-4 Magazine / November 2023 39 rigs and enjoy the day. Since moving to the bigger Chaplin Creek Historical Site, the truck show has steadily grown over the past 12 years. With good weather in 2022, nearly 100 trucks participated in the event. The numbers were down this year because it rained most of the morning on the day of the show. By noon, the rain had left, the sun came out, and it turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon. Almost 70 trucks attended and participated in this year’s event. There were many other scheduled activities that took place the weekend of the Harvest Festival including an antique equipment show, city wide garage sales, an art show, parade, live music, lots of food and beer. The truck show is a family oriented event and there were many activities planned for kids that included a petting zoo, horse riding corral, face painting, rides in carts pulled by a tractor around the truck show field, and a big bounce house. The petting zoo, horse rides, and bounce house were the most popular activities and attracted a lot of parents and children. It was nice to see all the kids included in the truck show event and planned activities. Entertainment for the adults at the event included viewing all the trucks participating in the show, taking tours of all the historical buildings on the grounds, with some being built in the 1850s, visiting the various craft booths, and listening to a great mix of music provided by 3D Sound Company. Along with marketing the Big Rig Truck Show, Mike and his wife, with the assistance of many volunteers, provided a variety of great food in the food tent for all the participants and attendees of the show. Mike and his amazing team of volunteers prepared and cooked all the food sold at the food tent. I am a sucker for brats and had two of them, which were, by the way, delicious! By 3:00 PM most of the food and drinks had sold out. Support for the Big Rig Truck Show is evident as there were nearly 50 sponsors from the community and surrounding area who contributed time, money, services, and products to make this event successful and worthwhile to attend. Bryan and Mike indicated that besides showing trucks, their primary objective is to be a charitable event. They have a relationship with Shriners based in Rockford, IL. All financial contributions from the show are donated to the Shriners Children’s Transportation Fund. Money from this fund is used to transport children with needs and their families to doctors and hospitals at no cost to those families. After the show, Mike sent me a message indicating that the Big Rig Truck Show has donated over $100,000 in total over the past 10 years to the Shriners Children’s Transportation Fund. That is a huge accomplishment and something to be proud of, especially since this is not a very large event. Despite all the rain and somewhat wet conditions on Saturday, August 5th, the truck show did go on. Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Bryan, Mike, and their 12-person team for putting on another successful Big Rig Truck Show in Franklin Grove, in the farmlands of north central Illinois. If you happen to be in the area visiting Chicago, Rockford, or the Quad Cities on the first Saturday of August 2024, make the drive to this event. I am confident you will enjoy the show and it feels good to contribute to a very worthwhile charity supported by the Big Rig Truck Show and Harvest Festival. Thanks to Bryan and Mike for inviting 10-4 to be a part of this event! n