One of the highlights of the summer for many truck drivers gets under way Thursday.
The Iowa 80 truck stop hosts its annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree starting Thursday and running through Saturday afternoon. During the three days, the annual gathering that began in 1979 will feature music, family games, a variety of exhibitors, music, fireworks, food and, of course a major truck show. There will also be a display of vintage trucks and a celebration of Iowa 80's 60th anniversary.
Admission and parking are free.
The jamboree's schedule of events include:
Thursday
10 a.m. gates open and judging of the Super Trucks Beauty Contest begins
11 a.m. Iowa Pork Chop Cook-out opens
1:30 p.m. Trucker Olympics
5 p.m. Music by Royale Lynn
7 p.m. Music by Matt Stell
9 p.m. Truck Lights at Night display and judging
9 p.m. Fireworks
Friday
10 a.m. Gates open
10:30 a.m. Trucker's Best Friend Pet Contest
11 a.m. Iowa Pork Chop Cook-out opens
11:30 a.m. Trucker Olympics
2:30 p.m. Celebration of Iowa 80's 60th anniversary
5 p.m. Music by Shane Profitt
7 p.m. Music by Blackhawk
9 p.m. Fireworks
Saturday
9 a.m. Gates open
11 a.m. Iowa Pork Chop Cook-out opens
11 a.m. Trucker Olympics
1 p.m. Music by Dani Lynn Hows and Band
3 p.m. Super Truck Beauty ContestsAwards presentation
4 p.m. Antique Truck Plaque Presentation
RELATED NEWS: Iowa 80 celebrates 60th anniversary with Cornpatch Cadillac cake
As part of the Jamboree, the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum celebrates the 100th "birthday" of one of the trucks in its collection
The museum is featuring the 1924 White Wrecker that is on permanent display. The ruck has been part of the Iowa 80 collection since 1992. In 1991, this Model 40 wrecker appeared in the film Fried Green Tomatoes. The truck is featured in a scene pulling a car, identified as Ruth’s husband’s, from the river after he goes missing.
White is one of the few truck companies that made all their own parts. At the time when this truck was manufactured, most companies just bought parts and assembled them. White was a very diverse company. They manufactured cars, trucks, sewing machines, bicycles and more. Eventually, the company was purchased by Freightliner and dissolved.
Only 1,443 Model 40 trucks were produced in 1924. This truck is powered by a White 4-Cylinder 371 cubic inch engine. It was made in-house by White at their Cleveland factory and paired with a 4-speed transmission. Although this truck has four gears, the top speed is only 15 miles per hour due to the gear ratio.
.QipFBxfF5a.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=167&w=250&auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70)