The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Midwest Bolters Association Annual ATHS Convention & Truck Show - Jun 2-6, 2026 Springfield

Sorry for being so late to get this posted, but here's info on next weeks Annual ATHS Convention and Truck Show being held at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, Springfiled, MO, June 2nd through 6th 2026 (yes, I know this is just a few days away, SORRY!!! ).

For those that know about the ATHS, you're already familiar with what a big to-do this is every year. For anyone else that's never attended, check out more info at their main web page at ATHS.org about the ATHS itself. Then for more detailed information about the event itself, check out the ATHS Convention About page and the ATHS 2026 Convention Events Facebook Page.

PS - I'm planning to attend on the 6th with some other folks, Hope to see some fellow Bolters there!

Good timing Dan, Tim (down under) and I are planning on going thru Springfield later this week.
Rolla is also having a big Route 66 celebration next Saturday and I planned on hitting that with Tim.
Let me talk to him tomorrow and see what he wants to see and do.
We are in Townsend Tn. right now and headed home to Missouri tomorrow.

Don

Edit: Tim if you read this, what do you want to see?

I think we're planning on going on the 6th, as well

Sounds like we may have the beginnings of another MBA gathering in the making. Wear your Stovebolt attire and hope to see any/all that do get to the show!

Vicki, Tim and I made it to Cape Girardeau today and headed back home to Mid Mo tomorrow. After talking to Tim, we will try and meet everyone at the show Saturday. Tim and I have a week to run and then the MBA fish fry at the Lake of the Ozarks June 10th.
Millenimach, can you take ride up to the lake a week from Wednesday?

Don

Unfortunately, I will have to work on Wednesday, otherwise that would be fantastic

Tim and I plan on meeting you Saturday there Dan.

Don

That sounds great Don! Looking forward to the meet up.

Dan has checked in via cell phone with a lot of images. They have a good group there and looks like some neat trucks of our vintage. If you like bigger trucks, plenty to see.

Dan will post when he gets a chance to do it Dan's style (do it right ). Maybe a few of the MBA group will post individually from their phone.

Working on the pictures. Will get them posted in batches throughout today and maybe tomorrow. Gotta leave time between posts for Oooo's and Ahhhh's, not to mention maybe a towel break for drool clean up - hahaha!

So here's a start of Saturday's 2026 ATHS Show in Springfield pictures.

We begin with a shot of our gaggle of Bolters and friends that trekked from various parts of middle and western MO, as well as our well traveled Bolter from "Down Under" that's been doing some Stovebolt event visiting. Also included is a fellow Springfield, MO based Stovebolter, "Jim Lee" and his 1954 Chevy 3800 Dual Rear Wheel Dump Bed that we met shortly after arrival and spent a bit of time trading stories and tales with. Not sure if Bolter Millenimech made the show or not, but hope he did even if we didn't get to meet up.

The trucks we saw were really cool, with something just about everybody could love from the Chevy and GMC lines and eras, plus some others just cause they were very interesting in their own right. Be sure to read the picture titles as they have some important info in them. Hope y'all enjoy!

Next batch, in no specific order.

The Chevy "Bison" rumbled past us as we were standing there looking at other stuff. It sounded sweet! More trucks and related stuff -

That's it for the moment. I'll post more later.

The GMC cab over with the two older COE’s on the trailer is Skeet Johnson and his wife Brooke. I met them several times at the KC All Truck Nationals. I’m sure Mongo knows them.

Don

Here's another batch of pictures from Saturday. More later as I have "Grandpa Duty" all day today.

One more pic post update for today since my Granddaughter is down for a nap.

With no "Grandpa Duty" today, at least until the youngest grandson's last baseball game of the season tonight, here's some more pictures from last Saturday's ATHS Show. This first batch is a family owned restored pair of '47 AD's that I think you might really enjoy!

Here's the next batch.

Here's another batch that includes some stuff I've not seen before. The "Autocar" with the interesting "tandem drive" set-up and historic documentation caught my eye so thought worth sharing.

Here's the last of my batches of "truck" pictures from the show. A few more pictures to come after that because the end of the show wasn't the end of our Bolter outing!

Edit Note: The 1957 GMC is actually a Model 630, not 650 - argh. I'm going to plead tired eyes and stubby fingers - lol!

So after the ATHS Show concluded at 2pm, we all piled into our transportation and headed South to "Lambert's Cafe" (Home of the throwed rolls) for a late lunch/early dinner. I know none of us left there hungry and the food was incredible!

After dining at Lambert's, we headed a little farther South (since we were already down there of course - hahaha) to a place Steve (KCMongo) invited us to go check out. Being he's a member, we got a tour of the "Possum Lounge". According to Steve, it's the gathering place of a very long time group of "automotive enthusiast" that gather regularly at the shop to work on their projects and attend the many automotive related activities throughout Missouri. I was first introduced to the "Possum Lodge" gang last August at the Springfield Swap Meet. It was great to meet up with a couple of the lodge members again, who welcomed us and let us share in their really great space! Here's a sample of the "Possum Lodge" for your viewing enjoyment.

That's the extent of my pictures. Perhaps some of the others will post a few of their own. I know that Tim (TPR57C) from "Down Under" took an "evidence picture" of the group at Lambert's. Perhaps he'll post it?

Anyhow, hope everyone enjoys these pictures. Looking forward to the next event.