Local truck show all about helping the community

CACHE CREEK, B.C. – In a small town in the interior of B.C. a local truck show has been running for eight years now and has become a valuable part of the community of Cache Creek.

Scott McKenzie organizes the Cache Creek Working Truck Show, but not because he or his family are in the industry, but rather for a love of trucking that even he can’t explain.

“None of my family members are truck drivers, none are mechanics, so I just kind of fell into it,” said McKenzie. “I am a collector of the old stuff and wanted to find all the old Pacifics and thought, hey, let’s get the word out about these trucks, and then I started to realize there were a lot of guys who had these old trucks.”

Pacific and Hayes trucks are part of Canadian history, and a crucial part of B.C.’s identity, as both were manufactured in Vancouver, B.C.

McKenzie has a 1964 Pacific he’s currently rebuilding. He found the truck after it made its way to Prince George, where he works as a mechanical designer for ProGraph Solutions, saving the truck before it ended up in a scrap yard.

The original idea for the show in Cache Creek was to showcase Pacific and Hayes trucks. McKenzie started making some phone calls to gather as many owners as he could for his first show eight years ago.

The event takes place at Cache Creek Recreational Park, where a large enclosed pavilion houses the trucks and provides refuge from the sun for attendees, as the interior B.C. village can get quite hot in July – it was around 35 degrees Celsius the day Truck West visited the show.

“I thought I’d like to support a small community in B.C. that I remember going through as a child,” said McKenzie, “so I phoned up Cache Creek and they said they’d love to have us.”

Cache Creek has a history of being a transportation hub. Trucks traveling east and west along the Trans-Canada used to stop in the village for fuel. Many trucks traveling to or from Vancouver now take the quicker Coquihalla Highway (Hwy 5), which has lessened the number of trucks passing through Cache Creek.

“With this show we’re kind of unofficially working with (the village) to bring trucks back to town, both working trucks and old retired trucks,” said McKenzie.

The first year, the show had around 22 trucks on display, and as it has continued to grow, McKenzie said he’s torn whether he’d like to see that trend continue.

“I kind of want it to grow, but it’s kind of nice being smaller,” he admitted. “Everybody knows each other, you come in here as a new guy and make a whole bunch of new friends. It’s all about getting together and having a nice visit over the weekend, taking trucks and showing off your truck.”

Pacific Truck Manufacturing is a sponsor of the event and has been with the show since the beginning.

“This is our eighth year and it’s just gotten bigger over the years,” said Larry McNutt, export parts sales for Pacific Truck Manufacturing.

McNutt pointed out that McKenzie runs a website for Pacific and Hayes trucks enthusiasts, and is a great source of information.

“I actually use him for a lot of research,” said McNutt. “He’s out and about and travels and knows a lot of people, so I’ll phone him up and tell him if I’m on the hunt for something.”

A Pacific truck on display at the Cache Creek Working Truck Show.

McKenzie doesn’t do trophies or hand out any awards for “best in show” during the event to avoid any of the participants feeling like it’s a competition. He does offer Amazon gift certificates, which are provided by another of the show’s sponsors, SafetyDriven – The Trucking Safety Council of B.C., as well as some door prizes.

There is no registration fee to enter a truck in the show, nor is there a fee for vendors. Attendees can also go to the event free of charge.

If the truck show does continue to grow as it has, McKenzie said he has the support he needs from the community of Cache Creek.

“I have talked to the mayor and he said if it gets to be big enough, just take over the city,” he said. “Respectfully, of course.”

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A university graduate with a degree in English, I have worked in the media and trucking industries as a writer, editor, and now as western bureau chief of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. I have several years of management experience in journalism, as well as hospitality, but am first and foremost a writer, both professionally and in my personal life, having completed two fiction novels.
derek@newcom.ca
@DerekClouthier


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