Truck show shines

EDMONTON, Alta. – Lesco Distributors held its seventh annual Pro Show N’ Shine Sept. 17-18, raising nearly $2,000 and around 70 toys for the Alberta Large Cars BigRig Toy Run for Santa’s Anonymous.

With 102 trucks preregistered for this year’s event, the Lesco Pro Show N’ Shine saw its largest turnout yet thanks to the hard work and dedication of Tina Clark, who is a sales representative for Lesco and came up with the idea as a way to show people what the company does for the trucking industry.

“I’ve been in the industry since 1982,” Clark said. “I love trucks, I’m a truck nerd, my family is all drivers, my brothers drive, my father drove; I’ve been around trucks my whole life and I love trucks.”

That love was fully on display at Castrol Raceway in Nisku, Alta., just south of Edmonton, where an array of tractor units shined for truck-enthusiast attendees, including 22 vintage models and 14 cabovers.

Aiming to max out the number of trucks that could take part in the show this year with a cap of 125, Clark said they started with 62 entries seven years ago, and have only grown since then.

Clark is part of the sales department at Lesco, which distributes new and innovative LED lighting as well as stainless and chrome accessories to those in the industry.

“It’s an opportunity for us to see the work that we do all year long,” she said. “It justifies our existence is what it comes down to for me.”

Through the years, the Pro Show N’ Shine has donated toward several causes, including breast cancer, ALS, Stars and Child Find, and this year saw the opportunity to help Alberta Large Cars, which organized the second annual BigRig Toy Run for Santa’s Anonymous Oct. 8, aiming to help those less fortunate this Holiday season.

During the show’s second year, Lesco got involved and helped with advertising. Last year, the event featured a total of 96 trucks on display.

Though Lesco has lent a helping hand since the show’s sophomore year, Clark has only been able to entice one business – Fort Garry Industries – to help sponsor the event, a fact that has long befuddled the organizer.

“I have gone to every dealership, I have been rejected flat out by every dealership. Nobody takes this seriously,” she said. “I’m not sure what they expect. I’ve given them the platform to introduce new trucks to the market and nobody has ever stepped up.”

Clark said much of the show is sponsored by the drivers through the registration fee, which is used to cover the costs of the event.

In addition to having their rigs on display, drivers can win prizes for having their vehicle voted by attendees as the nicest truck, or by their peers in a category competition. Show attendees are given a voter’s slip when they enter and asked to select their three favorite trucks on display.

There were also plenty to do for the kids, with facepainting, tattoos, coloring and other activities. The event also featured a silent auction, T-shirt tent, last man standing competition, Mr. Bean dance and other activities, as well as vendors and the always popular truck light show on the Friday evening.

Darrell Webb, sales manager for Lesco, said everyone he spoke to enjoyed the event, and that it was one of the best and largest show to date.

“There were some really quality trucks there,” said Webb, commending Clark for the work she does each year organizing the event.

Anyone looking to sponsor the Lesco Pro Show N’ Shine in the future can get their company’s name on event banners, flyers and posters for $500. Or for $1,500 also have their name on the event T-shirt.

From left: Leslie Bourdin, Lesco co-owner, and Tina Clark, show organizer and Lesco sales rep.
From left: Leslie Bourdin, Lesco co-owner, and Tina Clark, show organizer and Lesco sales rep.

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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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