Blue-Collar Spirit Aglow

Celebrating the holiday season in true Humboldt County style, about 60 logging, construction and transportation companies decorated their trucks with miles of lights and braved a driving rain for this city’s annual Truckers Christmas Parade.

The convoy of semis, logging trucks, construction rigs and industrial vehicles of all kinds wound through the streets of Eureka on Saturday night, some honking their horns to the rhythm of “Jingle Bells,” others made up like elaborate floats, complete with moving reindeer, waving Santas and bobbing snowmen.

From its inception in the early 1980s, the parade has been a celebration, not only of the holidays, but also of Eureka’s blue-collar heritage.

“It originated because the logging industry and transportation industry are extremely important to our community,” said Hugo Papstein, co-owner with his wife of KEKA, a local country music radio station that sponsors the parade. “All of our goods arrive here by truck, pretty much.”

Back then, the parade was just a ragtag bunch of truckers who wanted to do something to shore up the region’s low morale. The logging industry was beginning to see its future, and it didn’t look good.

“It was started to try to boost the spirits in Eureka,” said Dale Bridges, a former fire chief who now volunteers as a parade coordinator. “A few guys just put lights on their trucks and started driving through town honking their horns.”

As the years went by, non-truckers joined the act. This year’s participants included the Air Force, the local blood bank, an elementary school and a steel drum band.

Though the current slow economy may have affected participation -- there were about 85 entries last year -- many truckers said they were doing fine. The construction industry, particularly the part of it involved in renovations and remodels, is booming.

Wayne Evans drove his new $150,000 rig all the way from Medford, Ore., for the event.

“I spent all day yesterday getting this all dolled up,” he said, running his fingers along the polished edges of the 65-foot flatbed, which was festooned with red lights. “It’s pretty dressy.”

Other trucks were expected from as far away as Santa Rosa, about four hours to the south.

As a kid growing up in Eureka, Isaac Burgess watched the truckers parade every year. The 23-year-old, who now delivers ice cream and beer for Customer Truck Service, decorated one of his company’s rigs with nearly 16,000 lights for this year’s parade.

Many of the truckers said they go to the trouble because it’s a community event that makes people happy. Thousands of spectators lined the route.

“When you go along the route, you see the old people, the senior citizens. They get a big ol’ smile on their face; it makes you feel you’re doing your part,” said Rob Walters, who drives a 10-wheeler for Hensell Materials Inc. of Eureka. “This is a big thing for the area.”

Locals aren’t the only ones who appreciate the parade. James Harring of San Francisco said he and a group of friends travel to the North Coast each year for the occasion.

“We make a weekend event out of it,” he said. “It’s just so different.

You’d never find this in the city. People I work with are, ‘You’re gonna go where to see what?’ ”