{"id":5724,"date":"2015-03-01T11:51:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T16:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/?p=5724"},"modified":"2015-03-01T11:52:16","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T16:52:16","slug":"march-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/2015\/03\/poetry-in-motion\/march-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"March Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MarPoem1\"<\/a>Spring is in the air \u2013 well, almost! I just love the month of March. Not only is it my birthday month, but it\u2019s also the beginning of spring. Flowers will bloom, grass will grow, snow will melt, and the Mid-America Trucking Show is fast approaching! Known by many as the show that kicks off the truck show season, the Mid-America Trucking Show is the biggest annual convention in the trucking industry \u2013 you simply cannot see it all in one day (or three) and fully take it all in. The caliber of high-end show trucks is beyond belief. My personal favorites are the weathered yet properly-preserved workhorses of yesteryear \u2013 especially from the late 50\u2019s through the early 90\u2019s. Then, there are the vendor booths, demonstrations and seminars that will keep you strolling the halls all weekend long, checking out the latest products and trends, and educating you about the regulations that are hitting the trucking industry. It\u2019s truly an amazing show! And not just because it is \"MarPoem2\"<\/a>entertaining for us trucking-minded folks, but also because it is an eye-opener for those who are not totally familiar with our beloved profession. In honor of the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) and of the trend-setters from the shows from years ago, I submit this parody of the Grandpa Jones hit song, \u201cEight More Miles to Louisville\u201d \u2013 I call it, \u201cTake Your Ride to Louisville.\u201d I recall the stories of the fellowship and friendly-fierce competition that the men and women who show their rides have shared. Iconic trucks like Darian Stephens\u2019 \u201cKeystone JR\u201d Freightliner, Bobby and BJ Montgomery\u2019s KW that was a tribute to the space shuttle Challenger crew, and Bob Guy\u2019s \u201cGun Runner\u201d Peterbilt are the ones that stand out in my memories, as well as the story I heard about the late Leonard Testerman, and how he could be found after-hours polishing the wheels of a fellow competitor\u2019s truck! I simply love the professionalism that folks like these have brought to the public\u2019s eye. I hope you enjoy this parody. And, by the way, if Joey Holiday or Leland Martin would like to sing this parody in the good fun and spirit of Grandpa Jones, that wouldn\u2019t hurt my feelings a bit!<\/p>\n

TAKE YOUR RIDE TO LOUISVILLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MarPoem3\"<\/a>I\u2019ve polished on this big ol\u2019 rig,
\nShe\u2019s lookin\u2019 pretty fair.
\nUp and down her body lines,
\nI\u2019ve polished everywhere.
\nShe ain\u2019t the worst, she ain\u2019t the best,
\nBut I\u2019m just glad she\u2019s mine.
\nI\u2019ll put her in a show contest,
\nAnd park her there in line.<\/p>\n

Take your ride to Louisville,
\nAnd see what she will do.
\nTake a ride down this old road,
\nAnd I can promise you\u2026
\nThat you\u2019ll see rigs, and that\u2019s a fact,
\nAs rolling works of art.
\nAnd you\u2019ll meet friends, in Louisville,
\nThat you\u2019ll keep in your heart.<\/p>\n

\"MarPoem4\"<\/a>You\u2019re bound to see a rig out there,
\nThat you like best of all.
\nSome are built to show and shine,
\nBut some are built to haul.
\nAnd there\u2019s the kind, you won\u2019t find,
\nRolling across the land.
\nThey\u2019ve had their day, made their pay,
\nAnd proudly make their stand.<\/p>\n

So take a while, in Louisville,
\nAnd see what you can do.
\nTake your friends and family,
\nAnd they will love it, too!
\nYou\u2019ll see Pete, Jim, Ken and Mack,
\nA \u2018Shaker and a Star.
\nAnd you\u2019ll meet friends, in Louisville,
\nThat you\u2019ll keep in your heart.<\/p>\n

\"MarPoem5\"<\/a>Well, I can picture, in my mind,
\nThe trucks that used to roam.
\nThe ones I\u2019d seen in magazines,
\nIn polished paint and chrome.
\nAnd late at night, a million lights,
\nWould fill us all with zeal!
\nAnd Leonard Testerman would polish,
\nSomeone else\u2019s wheels.<\/p>\n

Oh, take your ride to Louisville,
\nAnd see what she will do.
\nTake it empty, take a load,
\nWhatever pleases you.
\nJust roll a flame from that ol\u2019 stack,
\nThen pull \u2018er in and park.
\nThere ain\u2019t no show like Louisville,
\nThe truck show season\u2019s start!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring is in the air \u2013 well, almost! I just love the month of March. Not only is it my birthday month, but it\u2019s also the beginning of spring. Flowers will bloom, grass will grow, snow will melt, and the Mid-America Trucking Show is fast approaching! Known by many as the show that kicks off<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-poetry-in-motion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5730,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions\/5730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}