20 10-4 Magazine / November 2025 We have been to plenty of “hot” truck shows over the years, but some are just hotter than others. Such was the case at the 32nd Annual Brooks Truck Show, held on August 22-23, 2025, at Powerland Heritage Park in Brooks, OR. With temps in the 100s and a bit more humidity than usual, it was just plain uncomfortable to be outside during the event. But, since it is an “outside” show, there wasn’t much we could do about it. Thankfully, the show provided us with a covered golf cart so that did offer us some shade, at the very least. This event, as always, was presented by the Oregon Trail Chapter of the ATHS along with the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum. With 384 trucks in attendance, it was not a record-breaking year, but that is still a very large number of trucks that most show promoters would give an arm and a leg to have at theirs, me included. Of those 384 trucks, 225 were antiques and 159 were considered working trucks. It is hard to believe, but a 2000 model year truck is now considered to be an antique! The show is typically laid out with the antiques in one area (under the trees), the working trucks in another (across the tracks), and then the featured manufacturer of that year in a grassy lot up front near the vendors. Since that grass lot was not completely filled with the featured brand of trucks, a lot of various brands of working trucks were parked in that area, as well. This year’s featured brand was Freightliner, and there were a bunch of cool old ones there to represent the marquee, including a white 1951 cabover, a silver and blue Powerliner, and a red and black 2-axle 1988 FLC 120 hooked to a short Utility van. A gold-colored 1969 White Freightliner 8164T cabover owned by Josh Youngman was turning heads, too. Of course, no Brooks show would be complete without the late Frank Merrill’s OSU themed black and orange 1982 Freightliner cabover on full display. We sure miss you, Frank! Another thing they do at this show is collect teddy bears – something Frank was also passionate about doing. These teddy bears are then distributed at Christmas to children’s hospitals and other organizations that help kids. This year they collected 193 teddy bears, just shy of the 203 they got last year. Frank Merrill, for those who do not know, was the longtime producer of this event, who tragically and suddenly passed away shortly after the 2023 show. We flew into Portland on Friday morning and then drove down to the show. Unfortunately, by the time we waited in a very long line to rent a car, stopped to have lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, went to Office Depot in Salem to pick up some fliers we had printed, and stopped at the store to stock up on snacks and drinks for the weekend, it was time to check into our hotel. So, after doing Truck Show Report: By Daniel J. Linss that, by the time we actually got to the show it was 4:00 PM. We typically go out to a great dinner with our friends at Schott Parts & Accessories, along with about 15 other friends and fellow vendors, but when we got to the show, they were already leaving for dinner. Needing to do some work at the show, we opted out of dinner, which was very disappointing, but necessary. Friday night featured the amazing “Night Glow” light show – and, as usual, it did not disappoint (there was even a customized golf cart made to look like a giant Radio Flyer wagon with glowing red lights). We spent several hours taking pictures and talking to people, as once the sun went down, the weather was finally pleasant enough to be outside and not be miserable. Although this is a non-competitive show, there are a few awards handed out. Cory from Schott Parts & Accessories worked tirelessly that night to see all the lit-up trucks and choose the winners. Once they were all selected, Cory personally went to each of BOILING IN BROOKS
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