Every year, Paul Riggle and Sons has a show at their yard in Apollo, PA. Held mainly as a gathering to raise funds for local charities, the show is also held as a way to show appreciation to their drivers and their families, as well, and it always brings in a ton of cool trucks. This year, the event was held on July 7th, 2018 on a pleasant and sunny day. After a week of hot temperatures in the nineties with high humidity, the 75-degree day, with clear blue skies, was a refreshing change – there are not many days like that in this part of the country in July!
With 102 registered trucks and a total of 130 in attendance, once again, it was a great turnout. Being a non-judged show, the Riggle family simply wants drivers from the area to show up and show off what they drive and have a fun day. Much of the day involved relaxing with some food from the vendors on site and listening to some great music from the DJ, who was playing a variety of tunes, from country to good old Rock-n-Roll. Most of the drivers there really enjoy just getting together, hanging out and talking about their rides – and, more importantly, having fun!
Upon arriving at the event, I was truly amazed at the amount of trucks. In addition to the cool trucks participating in the show, there were a bunch of tall rides out in the parking lot, too.
The first truck that caught my eye was Richard Foster’s 2014 Peterbilt 389, owned by Reinsfelder Inc. of Zelienople, PA. I saw Richard two weeks prior to the show, as we were both running I-79 through Pittsburgh. You can’t miss his truck – all white with a black frame and conservative yet tasteful additions – pulling an RGN trailer loaded with huge transformer parts. Sporting a new black and blue stripe from Thunder Grafix out of Joplin, MO, I said, “It didn’t look like that two weeks ago!” The stripe was the right touch, making this stellar rig even better.
CLB of Delmont, PA had some sharp equipment on-hand, as well, including three tractors, a straight truck and a couple water trucks. This outfit, which primarily services the gas industry in the area, seems to be doing very well. Their straight truck hauls steel in the area and was featured in last year’s show report (a 4-axle orange Peterbilt 389), and their tractors pull bulk tank trailers. Kevin Montgomery of Morocco Welding has done a lot of modifications to hide the blower and pipes that you typically see on tractors that pull bulk tankers.
Although it is technically just a “local” show, year after year, this event draws in some amazing rides from all over. All the truck registration fees collected were donated to The Valley Points Family YMCA. Next year, they are trying to schedule the show a little earlier, possibly in June, so keep your eyes peeled and mark it on your calendar once it is determined and announced. I hope you are there – I know I will be. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!