Children look over some of the trucks on display Thursday, July 11, during the 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. The celebration continues Friday and Saturday. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Nina Unruh was taking a break from the trucking business Thursday afternoon, July 11, by pulling a 13,000-pound truck in a contest – and winning. “This event is just a lot of fun. My husband and I have a trucking business with 16 trucks on the road, so this is a good break from that,” […]
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Nina Unruh was taking a break from the trucking business Thursday afternoon, July 11, by pulling a 13,000-pound truck in a contest – and winning.“This event is just a lot of fun. My husband and I have a trucking business with 16 trucks on the road, so this is a good break from that,” said Ms. Unruh.
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Visitors look over some of the trucks on display Thursday, July 11, during the 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. The event also marks the 60th anniversary of the Walcott truckstop. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
A man competes in the coffee relay game during the Trucker Olympics on Thursday, July 11, during the 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
A young boy watches the Trucker Olympics events on Thursday, July 11, as the Iowa 80 Truckstop hosts its 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Two boys watch the Trucker Olympics events on Thursday, July 11, at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. The 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree continues through Saturday, July 13. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Nina Unruh of Convoy, Ohio, pulls a 13,000-pound truck during an antique truck event on Thursday, July 11, during the 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. The celebration continues Friday and Saturday. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Nina Unruh of Convoy, Ohio.
People look over some of the trucks on display Thursday, July 11, during the 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. The celebration continues Friday and Saturday. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
The 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree continues through Saturday.
A man competes in the truck pull event.
These toy skeletons are on display in the "Roll of the Dice" truck cab at the show.
The Convoy, Ohio, woman was one of thousands of people to attend the first day of the 45th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree on Thursday afternoon. The event, which takes place at the Iowa 80 Truckstop, located at Interstate 80, Exit 284, is a celebration of almost all things in the trucking world. The celebration kicked off Thursday, continues today (Friday) and goes through Saturday, July 13.Event organizers said that the Jamboree was attended by more than 45,000 people last year, and they expect an even bigger crowd this year. That big crowd is expected, in part, because this is the 60th anniversary of the Iowa 80 Truckstop and several special events have been added to the schedule. “It is really amazing to have reached this milestone,” said Delia Moon Meier, senior vice president of the Iowa 80 Group, which owns the world’s largest truck stop at Walcott.“We are so fortunate to have such wonderful, dedicated employees and loyal customers,” she said in a news release ahead of the Truckers Jamboree.One of the special events celebrating the 60th anniversary will be a one-of-a-kind cake served at 2:30 p.m. today (Friday, July 12) in the Super Truck Showroom at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. That cake is made by Baltimore, Maryland-based bakery Charm City Cakes, which gained fame from the “Ace of Cakes” TV show with Chef Duff Goldman.The cake will feature the beloved yellow bobtail “Cornpatch Cadillac” that is on display in the Super Truck Showroom, as well as an Iowa landscape and the iconic globe and red arrow logo of the I-80 Truckstop.“We can’t wait to see the cake next to the actual Cornpatch Cadillac. It’s going to be so awesome,” said Ms. Moon Meier.But on Thursday, most jamboree visitors weren’t interested in cake. They were at the celebration to see action. Many of those customers were out in force at one of the opening day events – the Trucker Olympics. That is a collection of competitive games for truckers. On Thursday, some of those events included a tire roll, water balloon toss and an antique truck pull. In that event, men and women competitors took turns pulling a 13,000-pound red antique truck about 10 feet. The men and women who pulled the truck that distance in the shortest time won the contest.Ms. Unruh won the women’s division of the contest by completing the pull in just under 10 seconds.That truck pull – and other events in the Trucker Olympics – drew a crowd to watch the truckers compete. Among them was Jessica Bower, of Davenport, who was at the jamboree for the first time with her two young sons, ages 3 and 9. “We’re not even truckers, but my sons love the trucks. So, that’s why we're here. … They wanted to see all the big trucks,” she said. In addition to the competition, the jamboree is filled with dozens of vendors; most of them selling products and services related to the trucking industry. One of those vendors is from the Trucking Parking Club. That organization’s mission is to help truckers save time and fuel by finding and instantly reserving truck parking at about 500 member properties across the nation.“We accomplish this with technology that connects truckers looking for parking with property owners who have extra space on their properties suitable for truck parking,” according to the group’s website.The Trucking Parking Club is really an “Airbnb for truck parking,” said Hunter Shearer, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who was one of the people working the Trucking Parking Club booth on Thursday. “We are here bringing awareness to the solution to these parking problems,” he said.Other vendors represented service organizations trying to reach the trucking world. For instance, Wreaths Across America had a table at the Truckers Jamboree. (That organization is a national network of volunteers that places wreaths on the headstones of veterans at 3,702 participating locations, including the Rock Island National Cemetery on Arsenal Island.)Courtney George, who was working the Wreaths Across America table, said she was at the jamboree telling truckers about the organization, and seeing if truckers or logistics companies would volunteer to help haul veterans’ wreaths to cemeteries across the nation.But for many people at the jamboree, the stars of the show on Thursday were the many colorful semi cabs and trailers on display for the Super Truck Beauty Contest. One of those colorful vehicles was shown by the husband-wife team of Dawson and Bobbie Taylor of Cameron, North Carolina. They showed a 2020 Freightliner named “Roll of the Dice” that was decorated in a Halloween-like theme with two toy skeletons sitting in the cab, and a small display that includes a small toy tombstone in front of the cab.The truck display is all part of the fun of attending the jamboree every year, said Mr. Taylor.“This is family time for us … We get to see the family and have a lot of fun here every year at the jamboree,” he added.A few of the other colorful vehicles on display at the celebration on Thursday included:
The 100th anniversary edition 2023 Kenworth W900, shown by Marvin VanKampen of Wyoming, Michigan.
Kate Whiting of Chetek, Wisconsin, was showing her 1973 Kenworth vehicle called “Cherry Pie.”
Mark Aragon of LaSalle, Colorado, showed his bright green 2003 Peterbilt vehicle he calls the “Slammed Distraction.”
Some of the other vehicles on display include: a multi-colored cab with a “LGBT Truckers” painted on the front and a sign that states: “Welcome to our beautiful chaos”’ a cab with the Marine Corps logo on the front; and a cab with a POW/MIA design and logos.
Here are some of the scheduled events at the Truckers Jamboree today (Friday) and Saturday:Today – Friday, July 12:
10 a.m. – Judging begins for the Super Truck Beauty Contest; exhibits open; antique truck display begins; trucks on display.
10:30 a.m. – Trucker’s Best Friend Pet Contest at Main Stage.
11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. – Iowa Pork Chop Cookout.
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Trucker Olympics near Main Stage.
5-6:30 p.m. – 60th anniversary celebration in the Super Truck Showroom.
5-6:30 p.m. – Shane Profitt at Main Stage.
7-8:30 p.m. – BlackHawk on Main Stage.
9 p.m. – Fireworks.
Saturday, July 13:
9 a.m. – Exhibits open, trucks on display, antique trucks on display.
11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Iowa Pork Chop Cookout.
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Trucker Olympics near Main Stage.
1-3 p.m. – Dani Lynn and Band at Main Stage.
3 p.m. – Super Truck Beauty Contest Awards at Main Stage.
4 p.m. – Antique Truck awards presentation at Main Stage.