The rain stayed away and the trucking community came out to play at the HHA and Larsen’s Castlemaine Rotary Truck Show last weekend.
The event marked the 35th time the show has been held in Castlemaine, bringing together truck enthusiasts from all over Australia for two days of family fun and truck spotting.
There was something for everyone on the truck side from classic Kenworths and Macks to slick looking Scanias and a brand new DAF.
All up there were 265 trucks entered for judging, and about 40 more who came along to be part of the show.
More than 30 trophies were handed out on the day across a wide array of categories, with Truck of the Show going to the Cornwill Transport team for a stunning Kenworth Legend SAR.
The charity auction held on Sunday raised $4670 to go towards local Rotary causes and be added to the overall funds raised from the weekend.
The crowds were well looked after with an array of food stalls and live music from Craig Lloyd, Peter Coad & The Coad Sisters, The Jim Hermel Band, Sandee Facy and Robert Urban and Adey Jordan.
There was also a truck driving simulator, popular with the youngsters, and Latrobe Health were along offering free heart health checks to anyone interested in giving it a go.
Another first for the truck show was the collection of cans, stubbies and plastic bottles to raise money for the environment. With four cubic metres’ worth collected over two days, it’s likely to cover the cost of waste collection for the event with money left to support an environmental cause.
Handing out the Truck of the Show trophy on Sunday HHA’s Jon Kelly paid tribute to all of the drivers who had brought their trucks along for the event.
He said judging had been tough across all of the categories and the Truck of the Show had been won by just one vote from two other contenders.
Castlemaine Rotary president Kerry Anderson said the show had been a huge success, made possible by the contributions of more than 150 volunteers and strong support by its sponsors.