54 10-4 Magazine / November 2025 I’ve been traveling to the state of Wisconsin for over 55 years now. It’s a state famously known for the Wisconsin Badgers. Curiously, in all my years of Wisconsin travel, I’ve never seen a badger! I recently had the opportunity to attend the Badger State Truck’n Show held at the Badger State Steam and Gas Grounds, west of the Wisconsin Dells in Baraboo, the weekend of August 8-9, 2025. The theme for this first charity event for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Hospital was “Big Rigs and Bigger Hearts” – and it did not disappoint. The Dells, Baraboo, and Badger State grounds sit in a valley surrounded by the green, forested hills of central Wisconsin, and served as a nice backdrop to the show field. I arrived late Thursday afternoon and 35 bobtails and combos were already there and being detailed by their owners and drivers. By noon on Saturday a total of 200 show trucks were parked for the weekend event. The north end of the show provided a spectacular view overlooking the beautiful trucks, forested hills, and lush valley. There is a well-used expression that describes summer weather in the Midwest: “If you don’t like the weather, stick around, it will change in a few minutes.” That expression was true for this truck show. Thursday and Friday were nearly perfect summer days, but Mother Nature changed that on Saturday afternoon. Storm clouds rolled in by 1:00 pm and steady rain fell until 5 pm. Then, the skies cleared up, and we all witnessed a beautiful Wisconsin sunset. The soil in this area is sandy, so the show field quickly dried out, minimizing any possible muddy mess. There were many vendor booths located throughout the show field selling their products, services, and clothing lines. These vendors were Abbs Paving, American Premium Customs, Bad Gear, Bates Transport, Beam Truck Parts, Big Rig Chrome, Bull Snot, First Weber Real Estate, Frazer Mobile Polish, Hackaway Forest Products, Ho-Chunk Wisconsin Dells Gaming, Hot Rig Apparel, Kropf Logistics, Martin Milk Service, Meister Truck, Republic Services, Sage Media, Riffey Transportation & Logistics, SP Chrome, Sunbelt Rentals, Titan Trailers, Travis Freight, Truck Country, Vick Photography, Wabam, and Wisconsin KW. Vendors who had a major role in providing support for the Badger State truck show were Amcan Truck Parts, Conrad’s Detailing, JX Truck Center, Hawke Trucking, Korth Transportation, and Road Sknz Truck Accessories. There was a good selection of food offered by several vendors located close to the west side of the main registration building. These vendors included the Reedsburg Boy Scouts Troop 44, Jose’s Authentic Mexican Food, Edwards Ice Cream, Flavor Rescue Food Truck, K&N Concessions & Loco Dogs, Kreative Sweets, Old School Pizza, and Smitty’s Coffee. I had brats and hot dogs from the Boy Scouts and several slices of Old Truck Show Report: By Eric Hill School Pizza. The food I had from both of these vendors was good quality, very satisfying, and inexpensive. Concerts were scheduled for Friday and Saturday night by some well-known groups and singers. The weather on Friday night was perfect for an outdoor concert. The Friday lineup consisted of Long Haul Paul Marhoefer (traditional country, folk, and blues music), Steve Molanders (current country and hip hop music), and finishing with Tony Justice (country and trucking music). Saturday night’s players were Long Haul Paul again, Presley & Taylor, who are out of Nashville, TN, and the very popular Kentucky Headhunters. I was able to listen to all these entertainers, and their performances were outstanding! Other special events planned for the weekend were the Friday Night Light Show that lit up the Wisconsin sky and a silent auction for the Make-A-Wish convoy, which took place late Saturday morning. A total of 28 trucks won bids for a spot in the convoy and a total of $6,000 was raised for this charity. The 24-mile BIG RIGS & BIG HEARTS
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