Junction City, Oregon did it again! This year marked the 3rd annual Truck Function in Junction all truck show and cruise on July 18, 2015. This event has become a must for a growing number of folks each and every year, and especially this year, boasting a record 131 trucks for the all-day show and shine, and over 100 trucks rollin’ throughout the evening cruise through the middle of town.
It was great to see many new faces this year, both vendors and drivers alike. Jeff Patterson even turned his curtain-side trailer into a make-shift performance stage for local country singer Amy Clawson and her band. Papé Kenworth and DSU Peterbilt, along with McCoy Freightliner and others, helped to fill the Junction City High School parking lot up with their cool new trucks on display, along with all of the outstanding working trucks that came to participate.
Again this year, this event brought in many fine-looking working trucks such as Troy Points, with his silver and blue walking floor Peterbilt, along with his dad, Tom, and his wild purple and silver 379. The Van Dyke family also made it out with a beautiful lineup of trucks, including George’s new personal ride – a special edition “Pride & Class” 389 Peterbilt, painted in the signature Van Dyke colors of Medium Green and black, of course. Mark McLeroy brought out “Ironsides” – a historic 1979 A-Model from Los Angeles that was owned and operated by Bob Wilson until he died a few years ago. This truck, which has about a million lights, is equipped with a Cummins KT525 that puts out a whopping 1,400 horsepower to the flywheel! As you can imagine, this rig turned a lot of heads.
It’s always great to see folks take the time and effort to attend events like this. Friends Korey, Lain and Ryan from Stingray Express out of Alberta, Canada even rolled in with their fine group of Peterbilt roll-tops, and Todd Fisher, with his white 379 2-axle, came equipped, hauling in his golf cart and Chevy pickup. Nik Leslie and good friend Larry Crusen dropped jaws with Nik’s bright blue king of Cool ‘Gordon Fast Freight’ A-Model, which he recently restored. Tim Nelson of John Day, Oregon and his KTA600-powered blue and silver A-Model, parked next to Nik’s Kenworth, fit right in, rather nicely.
The sunny 98-degree day went by fast, but thanks to all of the food and beverage vendors at the show, we never went hungry (or dry)! Now, at last, everybody fired up their wagons and headed for Main Street. I may be a little biased, but what a cool cruise it was! To close down a portion of Pacific Hwy. 99 for a truck cruise is no easy task, but we did it – and it is a real rush to cruise down the boulevard on a hot summer night. People and kids all along the way were waving and just having some good old American fun.
I must say, the highlight of the whole day for me was cruisin’ down 99 in my yellow and brown Freightliner cabover with west coast legend Mr. Bill Frampton. Bill ran a Southern California-based refrigerated trucking company that was known for having some of the sweetest reefers up and down the west coast. His historic trucking career spans several decades. Now living in Oregon, I would like to say “Thank you, Bill” – what an honor it was to go cruisin’ with you.
All of us with the Truck Function in Junction would like to thank everyone who participated in this event and made it such a great day. A big thanks go out to all of our amazing sponsors, our crew of volunteers who help make the day go smooth, and each and every one of the people who brought their truck (or trucks) out to the show and cruise. If this year is any indication as to what next year might be like, look out, because it’s gonna be huge – we hope to see you there!