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Regional Victorian truck show caps off with a bang

The sun shone down brightly on Boort over the weekend, a small regional Victorian town located next to Lake Boort, which played host to its annual Boort Truck Show.

Held on Saturday October 8, in conjunction with the Boort A&P Society Show, the event attracted over 1000 people, with 106 trucks on display.

The Boort Truck Show was first held in 2019 and though it was supposed to be an annual occurrence, Covid meant it’s been three years before it could be held again.

The day capped off with a spectacular evening fireworks display.

Boort Truck Show organiser Heath Saunders says the event was incorporated into the local show to help breathe a new lease of life into the popular community event. “Show numbers had been starting to dwindle and we wanted something to liven up the atmosphere. I’m a signwriter by trade, doing trucks only, so with the connections I had, we planted the seed and it’s been going in leaps and bounds from there,” he said, adding that the day went brilliantly.

“I think Boort was one of the few towns in Victoria that didn’t get rained on in the lead up. The weather was brilliant but the grounds were still a little soft underfoot, so we utilised some different areas of the show ground this year.

“The Boort Truck Show is a real get together. There are a lot of trucks we have here that you don’t see in the truck show circuit because they are mainly working trucks. We had trucks coming from far and wide – from down as far as Gippsland way and into southern NSW.”

Awards were presented across various categories, with the Best in Show prize awarded to Ben Gierisch from Gierisch Bros Trucking for his impressive black, red and gold Kenworth T909, named ‘Dancing in the dark’.

As well as his immaculate Maloney’s 900 Kenworth Legend placing in the top 10, Brad McLean also won the door prize, which was a custom painted fridge.

The People’s Choice award went to Craig Wilson for his Kenworth T610 SAR; the Rick ‘Chocs’ Hayman Memorial Award was presented to Phillip Lamb for his 1981 Mack Cruiseliner; while  Nichol Trading took out the gong for Best Fleet.

Other awards included Best Farm Truck awarded to Ben Rothacker’s International C1800; Best Special Purpose for Josh Parsons’ Freightliner tow truck; Best Rigid went to Mitch Grundy’s Western Star tipper; Best Display was presented to Mawson’s Concrete & Quarries; the Best Vintage award went to Ben Leech’s International C1800; Nelson’s Balranald’s KM Bedford scored the Best Paint prize; Best Local award went to Matt and Joe Kane for their Kenworth T610 SAR; and Best Signwriting was awarded to Clinton Webb for his W900 Legend SAR.

The evening was capped off with live music by No Plans and a spectacular fireworks display.

Top 10 trucks at the show

Steve Dimit: Kenworth Legend 900

Nick Gierisch: Kenworth T909

Brad McLean: Kenworth Legend 900

Bryce Lee: Kenworth K125 Aerodyne

Steve Garner: Western Star 4900

Dale Cornfoot: Peterbilt tilt tray

Matt Maloney: Kenworth Legend 900

Mick Cleary: Kenworth Legend 900

Rod Leske: Kenworth T659

Jason Nind: Kenworth K108 Big Cab

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