Andy’s Choice Awards, Onaway Big Rig Truck Show, May 2022
One Show, Two Awards
After each event that features an Andy’s Choice Award I attempt to explain a little history and the process I’ve come to use with Andy to accurately capture his choice. Please remember I’m not a writer in my attempts to tell these stories.
Back around 2013 at the St Ignace truck show Jamie Cade, the organizer of the Manton Truck show at that time, asked me if I thought Andy could choose his favorite truck the next year at the Manton show. I said we’d give it a try. We accomplished that and what was a one-time experiment a become a tradition at that show each year and has expanded to the Onaway show as well. In 2021 Jeremy from National Association of Show Trucks (NAST) asked if me if Andy could choose his favorite at the Onaway truck show that is part of the Memorial Day Great Lakes Big Rig Showdown semi races.
The process begins the moment Andy sees the semis as we arrive at the event. I wish you all could sit with us in the car as he about jumps out of his skin when the trucks are in sight! I can actually feel the car move!!! Then he lets out whoop of appreciation that is unique to Andy followed by “We’re here! We’re here!” We then make our first high intensity viewing of the rigs. (I almost said we stroll,,, but anyone who has seen us know we are not strolling! Lol!) This year Andy had a well-worn path in the grass on one side of the road the rigs on display, back and forth we trotted, several times. This was repeated each time we took a break from the races to view the trucks.
On judging day, we start at one end, and I section the trucks off into groups of three or four, depending on the how they are parked. Of each group Andy chooses his favorite. Using his iPad, I take a picture of his choice. We repeat this until we have judged every truck in the show. I then put the selected rigs into groups of 4 on the iPad and Andy again selects his favorite from each grouping, repeating that process until we have a winner. Typically, any truck that wins, Andy has had to choose a minimum of 3 times. This is about the fairest process I have come up with to date. Andy does not always point in a straight line and there are times I have him touch the rig he is choosing.
This year for the first two or three groupings I noticed he was picking the truck directly in front of us so I started changing where we stood to see if he continued to select the closest one, but he did not; I was then confident the choice was valid and he was not being lazy just so he could go eat! Maybe next time I should feed him first.
Usually, the official judges have finished and the drivers are not by their rigs when we do our business but the judging for this event is not the typical show judging. This time some drivers where near their rigs as we made our rounds. Andy was really loving on this red Kenworth cabover, and the owner was chatting with Andy how nice a truck it is while Andy continued with his appreciative ooohhs and aahhhhs.
However, this truck did not make the selection when I grouped the trucks for Andy to choose from, unknown to the owner.
During the award ceremony the owner, Pete Northrup, was announced, but not the truck number. Pete had a few trucks entered and he assumed Andy had chosen that red Kenworth he had been loving on earlier, not this time Pete!
Andy’s choice may have surprised Pete, but I knew why Andy had chosen that rig. While I had noticed Andy choosing cabovers in a few of the first rounds the last few shows, the reason this International was Andy’s Choice was because Andy had been given 2 History of International books that he has carried around for the last 4 years. I bet if I look in those books this truck is in it and Andy has circled it as his choice long before this show.
Award Two
For a few years I have wanted to see what an award would look like featuring a likeness of Andy on it. This year I got my wish.
I loved how it turned out!
Due to timing and communication, we ended up with two Andy’s choice awards and any questions I had about using two awards quickly vanished on our first walk thru of the show. I knew exactly which truck I’d like to honor with the award featuring Andy’s image. With Jeremy’s blessing, I chose one of the trucks whose message is close to our hearts with the second award featuring Andy’s picture on it. I told Jeremy maybe we could call it the Heart-to-Heart award. Luckily, Andy did not also choose that truck! It never entered my mind that he would until writing this!
Heart-to-Heart doesn’t really cover what I felt as I saw my choice. I felt the significance of this trucks display with my whole being. The heartfelt compassion of the journey they are on, the ache in the back of my throat and my gut-wrenching in the pit of my stomach was the reminding me of our family’s long healing from that same journey. Ugh.
This truck displays a picture of the owners’ son framed by the ribbon signifying suicide awareness. Bryan and Christey Zube have a picture of their son displayed inside of the teal and purple ribbon, the symbol of suicide awareness.
Having lost Andy’s dad, Dave, to suicide in 1999 I knew how long that healing journey takes. I also knew that telling our story was healing to me. By having their story so visible this owner was inviting others to share their story helping others on a similar path to heal a little on that long, long journey. On second inspection I saw the rig had the image of and EKG heartbeat painted around the entire cab, truly it is a heart-to-heart connection!
This truck also honors the memory of others who have completed suicide with smaller ribbons. Sadly, the number of ribbons is growing as requests come with each event Bryan and Christey take their truck to.
In the months following this event, I have followed Bryan on his Facebook page Bryan’s Hope. Bryan is introducing our loved ones by way of Facebook and stories told at the events he attends as he points to the different names on the ribbons. Bryan has become the Keeper of the Stories so to speak. He has made a point to learn about the person behind each ribbon represented by sharing examples of their humor, interests, and skills. It is important to those of us who have walked this path that others remember our loved ones for their unique personality each had rather than the last choice they made in their life. Each was lost way too soon in a manner that lacks understanding and takes decades to heal from, if ever.
October 2022 marks the 23rd anniversary of this chapter of our story. While those close to us have known, we have not openly shared this part of our family story in this group often.
I have observed it’s often uncomfortable for others when I do tell the story. However, if someone asks me about Andy’s dad, I will share but sometimes I caution them on being careful of the questions they ask knowing the uncomfortable reactions I’ve seen over the years. As a society many don’t know how to react to the emotions that come with hard times stories. During my healing process the tears would come randomly and usually at the most inconvenient times. It took me a while, but I learned to comfort others by letting them know I had become ok with my tears and I hoped they could be too.
After sharing our story and conferring with my kids, the B3 owners agreed to allow us to honor Dave’s memory with a ribbon on their truck.
We all have untold stories and over the years I have learned to recognize truck shows as a type of support group where hard work and time with others who share a passion quietly help heal those untold stories. Most of our truck show community did not know this part of ours for years, or until now! Many of the St Ignace shows coincided with Dave’s birthday meaning as I navigated Andy around the truck show I also carried heavy memories with me on that day. If I’ve ever responded to you with Andy is the easy part of my life, you now have a better idea of why I responded with that.
I don’t usually end these on such a somber note but the hard things in life need to be acknowledged just as much as all the joy that Andy and I have experienced since we were welcomed into the St Ignace, Manton, and Onaway truck show community. Many have watched as I guide Andy around and accommodate his quirky needs and have commented about how hard my life must be. I can tell you with out hesitation the years following Dave’s passing were light years harder than any day at a truck show with Andy. And I can tell you there are countless others at these shows who are going thru hard times, just more validation that we all need to try to be kind even on our bad days because someone else’s day might be worse!
Kindness matters!
Pam and Andy!
The National Association of Show Trucks (NAST), founded in 1995, is an organization whose goal is to keep fairness and consistency in the judging of over-the-road trucks.
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Thank you
Pamela J Babcock