Raising money for kids in need is always a noble endeavor. The Dirty Business Truck Show is one that I enjoy attending every year, because it reminds me of a big neighborhood block party, but with trucks. This was the third year for this event, which was put on by the good folks at HD Equipment in Grand Mound, IA the weekend of June 24-25, 2022. I always look forward to a great show put on by Jay, Guthrie, Kelly, and the entire staff at HD Equipment. Once again, they did not disappoint! And this year, raising money for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, IA made it even better.
Many of the truck shows we attend raise money for an important charity. Of course, as participants or attendees, we love the beautiful trucks, tasty food, and excellent entertainment that is planned, but most important is the money raised for the charity. The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital is a wonderful and important organization dedicated to meeting the health care needs of children and families. As Iowa’s only comprehensive children’s hospital, it provides care for all age ranges of children. They provide services ranging from promoting wellness, to the care of general childhood illness, surgery, traumatic injuries, life-threatening and chronic illnesses, and developmental disabilities. As parents, grandparents, or immediate family members, we know the importance that an organization such as this provides for our children.
Trucks began trickling into the show throughout the day on Thursday. The parking configuration was modified to improve traffic flow this year. This improvement made it easier for admiring the trucks, and for me, photographing them. The flow of trucks into the show increased on Friday, with a surge on Friday evening. The quality of the trucks at this year’s show was as good as the two previous shows. By Friday, the large parking lots of HD Equipment and C&J Trucking were pretty much filled up with beautiful trucks, both new and classic, and everything in between. When it was all said and done, there was a total of 90 trucks at the show representing the states of Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin.
As expected, there were several outstanding trucks that I admired and photographed, but my favorite was the cabover Peterbilt that Jamie Williams from J&L Construction and his crew brought up from Missouri. It is their most recent build – a 1986 model 352 cabover painted viper red (no surprise) with medium gray stripes and powered by a 3406 B-model Cat engine. It was built as a service truck for his fleet of trucks and heavy-duty equipment. The truck is fittingly named “Quick Fix” and Jamie gave me a detailed walk-around of the Pete. It is an impressive truck with every type of functionality imaginable that can be provided by a service truck, and I am sure it will receive a lot of attention at the shows this year.
We experienced a mixed bag of weather throughout the weekend. The conditions were ideal on Thursday night and all day on Friday, with lots of sun, warm temperatures, and dry conditions. A front moved through the area Friday night and early Saturday morning and caused thunderstorms and rain that fell into mid-Saturday morning. Anywhere from 2-6 inches of rain was received in the area and there was some localized flooding. The good thing about the rain is it brought cooler temperatures and clouds throughout the day on Saturday. By Saturday evening, the clouds had cleared, and we had a beautiful Midwest sunset over the farmlands of Iowa. By the time I left on late Sunday morning, there was bright sunshine, blue skies, a few white fluffy clouds, and a nice, cool breeze out of the northwest.
The list of major contributors to the Stead Family Children’s Hospital was extensive and included Austin Zillmer, Bauer Built, B&J Electric, Big Strappers Apparel, C&J Trucking, Covanta, Crystal Creek Enterprises, D&D Trucking, Dynaflex, FBF Careers, Flat Top Transport, First Trust Savings & Bank, Fug’s Autobody, GTG Peterbilt, Hawk Valley Express, Hoker Trucking, Integrity Trucks of Texas, Integrity Tires, Iowa Customs, J&L Contracting, K&K Contracting Services, LargeCar Mag, Lincoln Chrome, Mel Foster Company, Michelin, MHK Kenworth Quad Cities, PDI, Rockwood, Roll On Customs, Sadler Power Train Truck Parts, Schwarz Family Farms, Steve Moss, Tarpstop, WADA Farms, Wild Fire Goettsch, Workman Trucking, and 10-4 Magazine. All in partnership with HD Equipment, these generous sponsors made this show a reality, a huge success, and were major contributors to a great cause!
Along with the sponsors, vendors are also an important part of a successful show. The vendors who participated in this show included C&J Trucking, Convict Customz Motorcycles, EZ Pete Interiors, HD Equipment, Iowa Customs, MHK Kenworth Quad Cities, Primrose Lubricants, Roll On Customs, Sadler Power Train Parts, and 10-4 Magazine. They offered a variety of products from t-shirts, truck lubricants, truck parts, and truck bling, to yes, even custom-built motorcycles. In previous Dirty Business truck shows, the vendor booths were all located just outside the HD Equipment building, but because of past experiences with thunderstorms and rain, the vendor booths were located inside the building this year. This worked out perfectly, as it was much cooler inside, and we had no concerns with our booths being blown down by winds from a storm.
One of the many things I like about truck shows in general – and the Dirty Business show specifically – is the food offered at the show. Thursday night the folks at HD Equipment provided the participants with a Mexican themed meal that consisted of chicken and beef tacos, refried beans, and rice. There was a birthday celebrated on Thursday, and as a result, a birthday cake dessert was also available. On Saturday morning, coffee and donuts were provided for breakfast. On Saturday night, HD Equipment had its famous BBQ dinner with several sides offered to all the participants of the show, vendors, and sponsors. Being somewhat of a BBQ connoisseur, I thought the pulled pork was excellent. Once again, the Grand Mound Sportsman’s Club had a food booth where they provided a variety of sandwiches, sides, and drinks to all participants and attendees at the show throughout the weekend.
As with previous Dirty Business truck shows, fun entertainment was an important part of the show throughout the weekend. Music was provided in the form of bands playing live music both Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday night, the band “Jammer” played some awesome 80s and rock music. Music from my era that was so good, I found myself wanting to find a dance partner. But my better judgement kicked in and stopped me from asking a lady to dance, primarily because I didn’t want to embarrass myself, in a variety of ways! On Saturday night, the “Matt McPherson Band” put on an excellent performance playing lots of good country, classic rock, and southern rock music. During their intermission, we were entertained with another great fireworks display that lasted over 20 minutes. It was super impressive and lit up the night sky and surrounding farmland. On both Friday and Saturday nights, most of the trucks turned on their lights around dusk for an impressive display of lights.
Another fun event at the show was the silent auction that was held in the C&J Trucking building on Saturday afternoon. There was a variety of very cool items that went up for auction, and it was fun watching the various bidding wars take place for each item, all done in good fun for a great cause. As I mentioned previously, the charity chosen for the Dirty Business Truck Show this year was Children’s University of Iowa Stead Family Hospital in Iowa City. With contributions from sponsors and vendors, money earned at the auctions, and miscellaneous contributions, just over $40,000 was raised!
On June 30, Jay Hawthorne and Guthrie Waechter went to the University of Iowa in Iowa City and presented the check personally to the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. I would like to thank Jay Hawthorne, Guthrie Waechter, Kelly Fore, Jessie Hawthorne, Ryan Shanahan, and rest of the staff at HD Equipment and C&J Trucking for putting on another fabulous truck show in the farmlands of eastern Iowa. I experienced great Midwest hospitality, tasty food, awesome music, beautiful trucks, and most importantly, raising money for an outstanding cause. I’m also happy to report there was no lost golf cart incident at this year’s show! If you are near the area next summer, make plans to attend the Dirty Business Truck Show on the last weekend of June 2023. I assure you will not be disappointed, and the kids in need will be thankful.
