10-4 Magazine October 2020

Truck Show Report: By Eric Hill Celebrating some of our essential heroes in the trucking industry, I had the good fortune to attend the 31st Annual Waupun Truck-n-Show, held on August 14-15, 2020, in Waupun, WI. I say good fortune because this is an outstanding event that is enthusiastically supported by the local community, and with truck shows being few and far between in 2020 because of COVID concerns, when the opportunity to cover one presented itself, I took it. This is a very laid back, family friendly event held on the spacious grounds of the Waupun Community Center and Waupun High School. I have attended this fun truck show on many occasions in the past, and it has always surpassed my expectations. This popular event is typically held the third weekend of August on an annual basis. The show began as the Truck’n Jamboree in August 1990, but in 1991 the name of the show was changed to the Waupun Truckers Jamboree. Eventually, it became its current iteration, as the Waupun Truck-n-Show. This is a truck show celebrated for and attended by working trucks from all over the United States and Canada, and money is raised for two important charity organizations: Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin and Special Olympics of Wisconsin. The first 200 trucks registered for the truck show this year received a special 30th anniversary plaque. Planned, organized, and executed by the Waupun Truck-n-Show Board of Directors, their committee, volunteers, sponsors, and the community of Waupun, the head of planning for this year’s show was Duey Vande Zande. Assisting him were Steve Schaalma, Steve Wendt, Jackie Ferricks, and the entire Waupun Truck-n-Show Committee. I spoke with Duey several times throughout the show, and he was very helpful – he even lent me a green folding chair that came in handy during the parade on Saturday. Waupun is a vibrant community that actively participates in this yearly event. The Waupun Community Center and Waupun High School, where the show takes place, is located on the north end of town, and the trucks are parked in various parking lots and grassy areas throughout the spacious grounds. The hub of the weekend activities is the Community Center itself, where about 30 vendor booths were located. Some of the more recognizable vendors were Big Rig Chrome, Big Rig Tees, California Custom Products, JX Peterbilt, Pomps Tire Service, RoadWorks, S&J Trucks, Southside Tire, Transport Refrigeration, Truck Country Freightliner, US Army, and Waukesha State Bank. This is also where the food and drinks were served by the Fox Lake Snow Blazers. I sampled some of the food including the famous Wisconsin brats, pork chop sandwiches, and cheeseburgers, and all were very tasty. One of the unique aspects of the Waupun Truck-n-Show is bidding for positions in the Friday evening “Lights of the Night” parade and the Saturday afternoon “Rides of Pride” parade through Waupun. The top 10 bidders determine the first 10 positions for these parades, and all of the money raised goes to the charities. The actual lead truck in the parade was driven by Ron Naber, the 2020 Parade Marshall for the Waupun Truck-n-Show. His conventional 1979 Mack Superliner was featured on all the official 2020 show memorabilia, as well. There have been many notable parade marshals over the years, which include recognizable names like Harvey and Karen Zander, Tod Job, Vinnie Diorio, Trev Timblin, Jerry and Kay Kissinger, Jack Moss and many others. Throughout the day on Friday, trucks continued to arrive and get parked, as their owners worked hard to get them show-ready. The day started out cool, then temps rose to the mid-80s later that afternoon, providing perfect weather. Face painting for the kids, sponsored by Homers Towing out of Milwaukee, WI, was done all afternoon. The Special Olympics program and parade auction ran from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, and then the band Riding Shotgun played from 8:00 pm until midnight. The “Lights of the Night” parade started at 9:00 pm and ended around 10:30 pm. The Friday parade started at the Community Center then headed east through town, before heading back to the Community Center. I did a live broadcast on 10-4’s Facebook page of the parade which was awesome, but viewing it in person was even better. 20 10-4 Magazine / October 2020 ESSENTIAL HEROES