The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Southern Bolters Townsend show Wrap Up and Other Stories

To All, A BIG THANKS to all of you who attended the Smoky Mountain Nationals and the 2023 Southern Bolter's Jamboree, I hope ya'll had as much fun as I did. I also want to say Thank You to Dave Hoque and his Family and crew for making us feel so welcome, they did an amazing job putting this show together. As this was just the second year of this show it still had over 100 AD trucks registered, that was twice as many as last year. All totaled there were 96 Trucks in attendance for 2023. Dave was extremely accommodating with our group, he gave us prime real-estate to set up the Stovebolt HQ. Originally I had planned for 5 or 6 trucks from our group, well that dwindled down to 1, thank you PaPa Joe "You The Man" !! There were some problems with getting all of our trucks to the show, Archie's '46 "Puked" as he said and Alvin had to reverse course because of transmission problems, he did manage to make the show in a barrowed Toyota (he'll here about that for a while). Either way we had a blast.

Linda and I met up with PaPa Joe and his Grandson Eli, Thursday morning in Maggie Valley NC at our now No. 1 stop the "Buttered Biscuit". I watched as Eli made short work of 6 pieces of French Toast, 2 scrambled eggs and a huge biscuit. Afterwards we followed Ol' Blue over the mountain to Townsend, don't let PaPa Joe tell you any different he had Ol' Blue in the wind. We meet up with the rest of our crew later that evening and had dinner at the Timberline Steak House, great service and food, they just didn't have Archie's brand of BEER.

Friday started off with everyone meeting up for breakfast at a the Townsend Pancake House restaurant and some good conversation. We heard the long version of Alvin's troubles, I still rubbed it in that he missed the "Buttered Biscuit". At the Show site we placed our canopies and set up Archie's and Eli's tables. Archie had his book for sale again and Eli was selling his plate toppers.

Dave took no time in recruiting "Voluntolds" from our bunch to assist in setting up operations, we were glad to help. Picture a "Stovebolt" version of an Erector Set, that would be us trying to setup a donated canopy with miss matched parts and no instructions and a language barrier (Tim has a bit of an accent), a few Zip Ties and some Painters Tape and BOOM there it is. Everything was in the name of fun. We were glad to join in where we were needed, Dave actually gave us Top Billing at this event with the "Stovebolt" logo on the event T Shirt. Thanks again Dave.

The show started out with Friday being a laid back meet and greet. With set up completed the focus turned to the Friday afternoon cruise over the Smoky Mountain Foothills Parkway and the Patrons pick show at the Peaceful Side Social afterwards. The line up of AD trucks rolled out of Townsend and snaked it way over the hills and around the curves, the route was just about 30 miles, and back into Townsend. My Wife Linda, Tim and I had a great vantage point riding in the back of PaPa Joe's 3100, the view of the trucks carving through the curves was a thing of beauty. PaPa Joe handled Ol' Blue and fought with his worn syncros a time or two but managed to give us a great ride. Once back at the Peaceful Side Social the trucks were lined up for a Patrons Choice judging and award. There were some outstanding trucks at the Smoky Mountain Nationals and the Patrons Choice was one of the very best.

We, the Southern Bolter's, retired to the campground pavilion and had a great evening telling stories and catching up with old friends and making some new one. We met Joseph (Jody) and Robin from Milledgeville Ga., this was their second time to the show. Jody and Robin fit right in and had a great time, as Alvin said "Our kind of Folks". I passed out a few door prizes (ask Alvin about his "Drill Bits in a Can") and a couple of unique gifts (Don and Tim, watch for their pictures). Some grilled Hotdogs and Burgers and some adult beverages, all was right with the world.

Saturday morning started with us again meeting for breakfast at the Townsend Pancake House, their service was great, I never had an empty coffee cup. The show was starting to go full bore once we were at our site, we sang the "Stovebolt Gospel" to the masses. Some where along the morning Archie received word the HotRod Lincoln, Jerry himself would be joining us. Jerry had been attending a graduation in Knoxville for his daughter and was going to make the trip over the mountain to join us. About that time we were introduced to Tom (Tom 54) who joined us in the HQ, Tom lives not more than an hour from Townsend, he drove his 3100 to the show and found our site. It was great to meet all of these members and be able to place a face with a name. The show had the addition of a Swap Meet as well, it was there that I crossed paths with another Bolter (I must apologize at this point as I don't remember his name), he had an entire table of parts and was willing to let it go for $100.00. I told him I'd be right back. Jerry had joined us by then, I told him about the parts and the deal was done, he even managed to add a fully rebuilt 216 to the mix.

We moved to the stage area for the judging awards, PaPa Joe's truck was the only one we had registered. Dave thanked "The Stovebolt Group" for all their help and support, and then had Tim join him on stage just to have him say hello. PaPa Joe's number was called twice for door prizes, an LMC hat and a hat from the local antique tractor club. The show was judged by Peoples Choice, the top ten was an great selection of trucks covering every version of the hobby. The Best of Show was absolutely perfect. After the awards the trucks were again lined up for a cruise, this was a longer route going over the parkway to the Dragons Tail Harley Davidson store and back. Being the great "Stovebolter's" we were we elected to stay behind and drink Beer.

We met up later at a local walk up burger spot the "Burger Master", great burgers! We sat around and talked up the weekend events, a good time for all. Later we said our "So Longs" and posed for a picture with Jerry's new found 216. Thank you to all of my friends, old and new for making this Jamboree a great time, until next year "Keep On Truckin". TUT.