Truck ‘Olympics’ Sunday to Benefit Crippled Children

Gather more than a thousand trucks and 15,000 people in a 9-acre parking lot and you’ve got the makings of something interesting. Add celebrities, competitions, the sight of a former Miss America driving the back end of a hook-and-ladder fire engine, and the fact that the event helps raise funds to send handicapped children to summer camp, and what you’ve got is a “happening.”

It’s called “The World’s Greatest Working Truck Show,” and what it amounts to is an Olympics for trucks and truck drivers.

‘Grandaddy of Them All’

The event, which benefits the Crippled Children’s Society, will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of Anaheim Stadium and will include truck beauty contests, firefighter competitions, skill-driving events, celebrity challenges, country & Western entertainment and a parade of stars followed by an autograph session.

“This is the biggest working truck event in the world, the granddaddy of them all,” says show chairman W. L. (Vern) Fariester, president of Cerritos Trucking Co. “It was started years ago by Jim Grogan, a trucker who is himself handicapped. The show was so successful that we decided to donate the proceeds to charity, and that’s how we got hooked up with the Crippled Children’s Society.”

There will be a wide variety of trucks entered in the competition, from 18-wheelers to dump trucks, from street sweepers to fire engines, from cement mixers to tow trucks. A fleet of 38 trucks has been entered by the Department of Water and Power, and organizers are expecting substantial entries from retailers such as Sears and various supermarket chains.

There will be a variety of contests for working trucks and truckers. Among other events will be truck- and trailer-backing (a high-precision event that requires placing an 18-wheel, 40-foot-long truck within inches of a predetermined mark), single and double slalom (for trucks with one or two trailers) and heavy equipment front- and rear-end loading.

“This may all sound too industrial to be of interest to anybody but another trucker,” says Vicki Mastro, producer of the show, “but watching any expert at work is fascinating, and although we all see trucks on the freeways every day, few people realize just how skilled the drivers are. If you approach it with an open mind, these events are every bit as much fun as watching an Olympic athlete.”

Celebrities Involved

The firefighter segment of the competition will feature some very athletic activities indeed, including rappelling down ropes dangling from a hovering helicopter. But in contrast to such serious displays of life-and-death skills, show-goers also will see celebrities driving the back end of a hook-and-ladder fire truck through a slalom course of plastic pylons.

“It’s definitely an ‘E ticket ride,’ ” says former Miss America (1955) Lee Meriwether, who is both permanent honorary chairwoman of the truck show and co-star of the TV show “The Munsters Today.” In her first experience driving a hook-and-ladder truck, she said, “I almost drove into the crowd. But I’ve done it several times since then, and I’m pretty good at it by now. It requires great precision and is a lot more difficult than it looks, but it’s great fun.”

Other celebrities in the fire-engine competition include character actress Neda Volz, actor/producer Russ Alexander, “Our House” co-star Shannon Doherty, “T. J. Hooker” co-star Adrian Zmed and actress Lee Purcell.

Also on hand--and available for autographs--will be Joe Campanella, Earl Holliman, Peter Marshall, Rip Taylor, Cesar Romero, Spuds McKenzie (paw print) and the L.A. Rams Cheerleaders.

“The combination of celebrities, truckers and crippled children might not seem a logical one at first,” says Marilyn Graves, president of the Crippled Children’s Society, “but it all works together very well. This event raised $68,000 last year, which allowed us to send 140 handicapped kids to summer camp. Our goal this year is to raise $100,000, which will allow us to send 200 kids to camp. And since this is a charity event, the entry fee not only goes to a very worthwhile cause, but it’s even tax deductible.”

The World’s Greatest Working Truck Show will take place in the parking lot of Anaheim Stadium (between California 57 and Interstate 5 freeways) Sunday. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults; children under 12 and handicapped individuals admitted free. Call (213) 874-3300 for information.