There were big rigs everywhere in Downtown Perryville, and that may be an understatement.
The sixth annual “Laid Back on I-55 Truck Show” was held Friday and Saturday and event organizer Robynne Duvall thought the event was a great success.
“We are so happy with the turnout for the 2023 Laid Back on I-55 truck show,” she said. “We had over 140 trucks registered with a few more trickling in after registration was over. Our truck show continues to grow every year due to the wonderful trucking families. They tell their buddies how much they enjoy what downtown Perryville has to offer and the amazing spectator turnout we continue to see. To see so many families with small children attend our show this year was awesome.”
The first year of the event, the show garnered 48 trucks and then went up to more than 70. Last year, the event brought in about 130 trucks.
As usual, proceeds from this year’s event will benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis in honor of Abigail Hotop. The event collected approximately $20,000 last year and Duvall said they should make more than in previous years.
“We haven’t gotten all of our bills in yet but I’d say we raised well over $20,000 this year,” she said.
The event kicked off Friday with the truck registration as they rolled in droves, then the Big Rig Light Show at dusk. Just a bit after Lone Star Skynyrd, a Lynyrd Skynrd tribute band, took the main stage at the Downtown Pavilion to provide live music from 8-10 p.m.
Saturday’s event included a kiddie tractor pull and the convoy on Saturday afternoon was a huge hit! The convoy left from downtown Perryville at 5:30 p.m. and traveled down Main St, cut across to AC Highway past the Missouri National Veterans Memorial Wall before returning to the square down St Joseph St. David Adam Byrnes provided live music on Saturday.
There was a new event called the Trucker Rodeo which took place in the Knights of Columbus parking lot on Saturday and Duvall felt like it went well, especially because it was the first year for the event.
For this being the first year, it was great,” she said. “We wanted to limit the rodeo to 20 drivers due to time limits and I believe we ended up having 14 qualified drivers participate. I think a lot of drivers were there checking out how it actually worked so they can start practicing for next year.”
Duvall was happy with the way everything went and enjoyed the event as a whole.
“The light show on Friday night is my favorite part of the show. If you haven’t checked out this display, you’re missing out. In the past, the truckers have commented on how much they enjoy coming to downtown Perryville because of the large amount of spectators that come to the show. Not all shows receive the respect and support our show does.” Duvall said.
