The 2nd annual Nor-Cal Spring Fling in Red Bluff, CA was one really hot affair – and I mean hot! Sure, the trucks, vendors, auction items and food were hot, but Mother Nature trumped ‘em all with unseasonable temperatures in the mid-100s for most of the weekend. But hey, a little heat never stopped us, or a bunch of other people, from raising some much needed funds for our friend Rene “Frenchy” LaChance.
Held once again at Tehama County Fairgrounds on May 30 through June 1, 2025, this was the second “Spring Fling” but technically the fourth show put on to help Rene, who was a popular trucker in the area back in the day before being injured in an accident that left him paralyzed (mostly) from the neck down. This event is held to raise money for his ongoing medical expenses. The first two shows were put on by another fellow who is no longer affiliated with Rene or the show. Stuart Loewen of Nor-Cal Customs took the helm last year, and this year he got a bunch of help from Phil and Faren Miller, along with a bunch of hard-working volunteers.
Driving up the day before to beat the heat, we stayed at the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning on Thursday night, then rolled into Red Bluff fresh and ready to get to it late Friday morning. Bringing out our entire show setup including our TFK semi-trailer, pulled by Maggini’s “Godfather” 1962 Peterbilt (driven by our friends Roger and Annette Ghidelli) and our golf cart, we set up the 10-4 Magazine booth on one side and the “10-4 Lounge” on the other – a shady place with chairs and tables for people to relax and hang out. We also set up the bar in the trailer, along with snacks of all kinds, and played some good tunes.
Friday was a pretty quiet day, with the temp peaking at about 104 degrees, as trucks slowly rolled in and got parked and a few vendors set up their displays. Sadly, we are sure that the blazing heat kept a lot of people from coming out, but we refused to let it get us down and instead embraced the weather.
On Saturday morning, we stopped at the nearby Dollar General on the way to the show and bought a little plastic kiddie pool, along with several big bags of ice, and then filled the pool with that ice once at the show. It didn’t take long for that ice to melt, but boy did that cold water feel good on our bare feet. Most of the day, we sat with a big group of friends, at the back of our trailer, and enjoyed some cold beverages with our feet in the water. It was quite the fun gathering spot. The temps on Saturday peaked at about 106 degrees!
A few days prior to the show, on May 26, was my wife’s birthday (Miss Shannon), and Faren and Annette were nice enough to decorate the inside of the trailer and then surprise her with a fancy custom cake on Saturday night. Passing around glasses of champagne and sharing the cake with whoever happened to be there (or was just walking by), it was a lot of fun. Big thanks go out to Faren and Annette for making all that happen, and for making Shannon feel like the queen she is. After the light show on Saturday night, we finally headed back to our room. We were exhausted after a long day, and that heat really took its toll on our energy levels.
With approximately 100 trucks and about 10 motorcycles, pickups and hot rods, the turnout was not huge, but as mentioned before, we are sure the heat played a big role in that. Some trucks rolled in on Friday and then back out on Saturday, some rolled in on Saturday morning and then left on Saturday night, and others left before the awards were handed out on Sunday morning. That kind of sucked, but what can you do.
One of the trucks that rolled in on Saturday morning and then out later that afternoon was a new cream and orange 2-axle Peterbilt owned by Bobby Vaz. The guys who built it brought it out and it ended up winning quite a few awards. As DJ Ray spun some great music atop Phil Miller’s flatbed, I spent a good part of Saturday taking pictures of the trucks and other vehicles, and honestly, it was more about quality than quantity.
Some of the notable trucks that were turning heads included Rene’s red 359 Peterbilt and cool 1946 KW wrecker (one of my favorites at the show), Mike Mileham’s cream and orange Peterbilt 389 and flatbed, Miro “Junior” Dragich and his 2014 cream Peterbilt 389 with brown and blue stripes and an end dump, and Stan Silva’s stellar teal-colored 2024 Peterbilt 389X and matching heavy-haul trailer, with his custom teal Jeep loaded on the deck. Others included our May 2025 cover Ethan Rico and a couple of his trucks, Harold Silva and his blue cabover and conventional Peterbilts, along with their blue 1934 Ford Coupe, and Ryan Graham’s green and black 2022 Peterbilt 389 log truck, loaded with a nice stack of tall timber.
However, the rig getting the most attention was a brown and yellow 1973 Peterbilt 362 cabover that Gus Hulstein had just purchased from Kevin Young in Texas. Gus had his dad go get the truck, and then on the way home, he stopped in California to pick up the Utility reefer trailer that this truck once pulled for a company called Vanier in its glory days. It was pretty cool, for sure, to see the two mated together again, but Gus has a ton of cool stuff, so it was not that surprising. Two other neat old trucks that caught my eye were a blue and white narrow-nose 2-axle Peterbilt with “Muse Trucking” on its doors, and a really neat (and old) 1936 Chevrolet log truck.
To help beat the heat, Faren had a double-decker bounce house with a waterslide, a splash pad, and squirt guns for the young ones in attendance (and the adults who are young at heart). The temps thankfully dropped 10 degrees on Sunday, so it turned out to be not so hot (I mean, it was still about 95 degrees, but hey that was better than the day before). Closing the silent auction at about 10:30 on Sunday morning and then announcing all the winners, the awards were set to start at 11:00. Wanting “Frenchy” to be present at the awards, he was running behind, so they had to wait a bit for him. Awards were finally handed out starting at 11:30, and then the show basically came to an end at noon on Sunday.
It took us a few extra hours to clean up, organize our trailer, and load the golf cart and Roger and Annette’s Jeep, so we didn’t hit the road until about 2:30 PM. But we weren’t in any hurry. After a five-hour drive home, it was time to relax in the A/C and settle back into our regular jobs – managing and producing 10-4 Magazine. Although they were not completely done figuring everything out, Faren estimates that about $20,000 was raised for Rene and his ongoing medical costs. That is awesome! We are proud we could brave the heat and help in a small way. Dates for next year have not been set yet, so stay tuned to 10-4 for updates as they become available. And the winners were:
PEOPLE’S CHOICE BOBTAIL: Carlton Hill (1948 Peterbilt)
PEOPLE’S CHOICE COMBO: Ryan Graham (2022 Peterbilt 389)
PEOPLE’S CHOICE LIGHTS: Flint McVey (2017 Peterbilt 389)
PEOPLE’S CHOICE CAR: Harold Silva (1934 Ford Coupe)
PEOPLE’S CHOICE PICKUP: Dylan Johnson (2018 Dodge Ram)
PEOPLE’S CHOICE BIKE: Mikey Pihaylic (Orange Motorcycle)
RICO MEMORIAL AWARD: Transportation Services
JIM BOTELHO MEMORIAL AWARD: Harold Silva (1999 Peterbilt 362)
BEST ENGINE (JUDGED): Stan Silva (2024 Peterbilt 389X)
BEST PAINT (JUDGED): Kyle Schutte (2021 Peterbilt 389)
BEST INTERIOR (JUDGED): Kyle Schutte (2021 Peterbilt 389)
BEST FLEET (JUDGED): Transportation Services