Truck Show Report: By Brandon Twale The month of September typically brings beautiful weather to northeast Ohio, and the weekend of September 19-20, 2025, was no exception. I was blessed to spend a few days at the Portage County Fairgrounds in Randolph, OH at the annual Denise Marie Flaherty Memorial Truck Show and Pull, known as DMF-OH5. This is the fifth year of the show, with exciting plans to be around for years to come. As per an announcement made at the show on Saturday, the DMF Foundation was thrilled to inform the crowd that they had officially reserved the fairgrounds for the next five years, and plan to continue holding this wonderful event there. The DMF Foundation was initiated by one of Denise Flaherty’s sons, Brian, to provide assistance to those affected by cancer, including their families, in a financial and emotional manner. In 1984 Denise had been diagnosed with stage 4 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and was given an estimated six weeks to live, beating those odds by battling for almost 10 more years. During efforts of the family to pay off the medical debt that racked up, a gift was given to them from a cancer center in New York – forgiveness for about $350,000 of medical bills. From that generosity, Brian founded the 501c3 nonprofit in order to pay it forward to others facing the same challenges. Over the past 22 years, the DMF Foundation has been able to distribute $1,500,000 to numerous beneficiaries, and what better way to help raise some of those funds than an event with food, raffles, and a whole lot of chrome! This year’s event introduced a new eye-catching competition held at dusk on Friday night – a light show. Thanks to previous inquiries from attendees about having a light show, including having a spur of the moment one at last year’s show, event organizer Heidi Benjamin was more than happy to officially add it to the 2025 agenda, stating, “If you guys want it, go ahead and do it!” The night of Friday, September 19th, was the beginning of something spectacular, with multiple drivers bringing out their cleanest, brightest trucks to light up the night sky with vivid LEDs. This was a judged light show, with 30 trucks entered into two separate classes (combo and bobtail). Winners received a beautifully crafted trophy of a wooden American flag displaying “DMF-OH5” along with their placing and class. With vibrant lights complimenting each truck, they had some impressive contenders in the light show, including 1st Place Combo class winner Dave Cunningham of Derry, PA and his 2023 orange Peterbilt 389 car hauler. Sporting a big 605-hp Cummins, the vibrant MJB truck is not new to this show. Last year it turned heads with roughly 500 lights, but after a couple nights in the shop, fueled by lots of Snickers bars, Dave and a few buddies ended up adding almost 300 more – for a total of 800 lights for this year! And despite the extensive and creative exterior lighting, Dave told me his favorite part of the truck is, and always will be, the custom interior. The 2nd Place winner in the Combo class was Josh Brown of Louisville, OH and his 2017 Sunburst orange Peterbilt 579, sporting a 12.7 Detroit and 450 lights. This combo was definitely a head-turner, showing off a red, white, and blue light pattern under the trailer, accompanied by the American flag up front. Josh has owned the truck since it was new and uses it to haul aggregates and agricultural products around the Ohio region. In the Bobtail class, coming in 1st Place, was Tom Christafferson’s 46 10-4 Magazine / November 2025 FIVE MORE YEARS!
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