Hot August Night in Jefferson last Thursday was all it was expected to be, except hot. Temperature was in the high 70s, making it a near perfect evening to stroll around the courthouse square and see the approximately 375 cars, trucks, motorcycles and tractors on display.
There was no attendance count, but the Greene County Chamber & Tourism served 800 burgers. The veterans groups, the Does, and Raccoon Valley Aktion Club also served food, as Fareway gave away watermelon and Home State Bank gave away cookies.
Several awards were presented. The RPM Club of Carroll won a $200 cash prize for having the most vehicles at the event. Jody and Doug Fouch of Grand Junction were selected by other exhibitors as having the best car with their 1969 Ford Ranchero. Larry Joy of Jefferson received the best motorcycle award with his 2008 Harley Davidson Heritage, and Jerry Groves of Rippey won the tractor award for his 1958 Farmall 450.
Dean Fowler of Fort Dodge won Chamber Checks in a drawing of all participants.
Part of the fun of a car show is hearing stories of the vehicles. Rick Reed of Rockwell City exhibited a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am with Burt Reynolds’ autograph on the driver’s sun visor. The car was purchased by a man in West Virginia who claimed to be a friend of Reynolds.
Phillip Welsh of West Des Moines told of a car show in Wisconsin at which there were five Chevy Master Deluxes of various model years. They lunched together. “We all left at the same time, and as we were driving, one person would go a little faster and pass, and then the next guy would go a little faster than that and pass. Before you know it, we came over a hill and at the bottom of the hill sat a young sheriff’s deputy,” Welsh said. “He pulled all of us over and said he didn’t know who it was, but one of us was going 119 miles an hour.”
One in the group volunteered to have the ticket written to him. The deputy didn’t know he was a retired Wisconsin state trooper who knew the ticket wouldn’t hold up in court because the deputy didn’t identify a specific speeder.
Co-chairs of the event were Miranda Wahl, Chuck Wenthold and Heidi Naberhaus.
Next year’s Hot August Night is slated for Thursday, Aug. 9.
