The heat took center stage for the 10th Annual Southern Idaho Truck Show. Held on June 30 through July 1, 2023, at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds in Filer, ID, temperatures were in the 90s, with little to no breeze on both days of the show. Though it was hot, the show was beautiful, with 114 trucks, tons of vendors, and some wonderful live music, and I would definitely give this 10th annual truck show a ten!
Friday started with many trucks getting washed by Express Pressure Wash free of charge, then touch-up washes at the show. After sitting in line, I got my pickup and horse trailer washed and then headed for the show. Once I got pulled into the show and got registered, the infamous Marty Miles let me park right next to my mom, Stephanie, and her pink Kenworth. Once I got parked, I was instantly greeted with a hug by Mr. Clyde and Mrs. Melody Green – two of my favorite people! Though I only see him about once a year, I got the joy of hanging around Bryan Welsh and got to meet his adorable son, Lincoln, and watch him cruise around the show on Sean Nelson’s golf cart.
As trucks got parked and wiped down, the delicious prime rib dinner, donated by PAR Repair, was prepared and then served at 6:00 PM, paired alongside Aaron Golay and his amazing performance. Once the sun set, the light show competition took place, and the entire lot was lit up like the Fourth of July. Parked almost perfectly in the center of the show was our July cover, Cody Davis, and his stellar lime green KW. I’d like to give a huge thank you to him for letting me crawl on top of his trailer to get some night shots.
Saturday started with breakfast provided by JD Trucks for all the drivers and everyone in truck registration. The show officially began at 10:00 AM, and featured apparel for sale, amazing food trucks, face painting, a bounce house, and a coloring contest for the kids to potentially win a bike. From 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Kapn Kirk performed some awesome live music. Starting at 4:30 PM, the awards ceremony took place, and featured many awards. Some hats were given out to recognize a few people, including Honorable Mentions for the smallest truck (Cory Amoth with his mini cabover truck), the first truck parked (Justin Barlow), and the last truck parked (Matt Weise).
More traditional awards, featuring wooden plaques, were handed out, too. The “Thomas Edison” award (lights) went to CJ Soza with Soza Trucking, the “Competitor’s Choice” award went to Chris Hickerson with CGH Enterprises, and the “Norwegian Award” went to Jess Daniels with JD Truck repair. Lastly, the big award is the “Big Kahuna” award. For the first eight years, it was given to a singular truck, but for the 9th event it went to two cabovers. This year, the “Big Kahuna” award went to a pair of conventional trucks – a Kenworth and Peterbilt. The Pete belonged to Matthew Neyens with Wild West Express, and the KW belonged to Stephanie Henderson (my mom) with Standlee Hay.
All proceeds from the show went to the Anna Cheri Foundation, which was created to help fund adoptions for families who are in the adoption process, and to inspire people to orphan care around the world. The foundation’s main goal is to bring awareness to the global orphan crisis in order to inspire as many people as possible, to raise as much money as possible, to help as many families as possible and as many children as possible. The show was able to raise just over $20,000 for the foundation, in hopes of raising even more next year.
Alongside many people, the 10th Annual Southern Idaho Truck Show was amazing and very memorable to many, including me. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you for all that brought out your trucks and those that supported the cause. Stay tuned for more details about the upcoming show for next year and be ready for some changes! Let’s give the 10th Annual Southern Idaho Truck Show a ten, and who knows, maybe the 11th annual show in 2024 will get an eleven! If you missed it this year, don’t make that same mistake again.
