There’s something about a Wisconsin trucker. Having hauled my share of LTL cheese, and known more than a few drivers from America’s Dairyland, when it comes to kids, all bets are off. You might meet a guy from Janesville who is the scale-dodging-est outlaw trucking son of gun in the world, but if a kid needs something, he'll show up with bells on and money in his pocket.
Some of the most impactful programs for kids by truckers have originated in Wisconsin. The Trucker Buddy program, for instance: started by a guy named Gary King from Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Then there was that cool million raised for children over the course of the 35-year run of the now lamentably defunct Waupun Truck-N-Show, held annually through 2024 in Waupun, Wisconsin. When it comes to kids, your Wisconsin trucker is the most imperfectly perfect trucker in the country, at least in this gearjammer’s opinion. So it was some time during the last ride of the Make-a-Wish Convoy at the last Waupun show in 2024 when a type of conviction gripped Wade Riffey, 31-year-old ag hauler from Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
Riffey, president of Riffey Transloading, found himself saying, “this can’t be the last year.”
As unthinkable as it was that the show he had attended for so long was coming to an end, the notion of Wisconsin truckers walking away from their legendary commitment to local children was flat unacceptable .
“We had to keep this going for the kids," he said. “I asked around to see if anyone was planning on keeping the [Make-a-Wish] convoy going. Nobody seemed to have any plans." Riffey assembled a group of seven other local truckers and business leaders, "and we decided to keep it going ourselves.”
[Related: Truck shows' 2023 haul for charity: $2M plus]
Wade Riffey, with his wife, Shanae, and daughters Brinley (standing) and Aurianna
'We want them to get involved in the trucking industry early.' --Wade Riffey
Kids will be the focus of the newly christened Badger State Truck'n Show, with big truck rides for youngsters (with an accompanying parent or guardian) through the scenic Wisconsin Dells, as well as “pedal pulls” involving pedal-driven tractors. There will be a “Touch a Truck” section at the show for kids who may have never had the opportunity to sit in a big truck, as well as bounce houses and other child-centric activities .
“We want to get them involved in the trucking industry early,” Riffey said.
Riffey's daughter, Aurianna, has gotten plenty seat time herself.
In addition to Make-a-Wish as a beneficiary, the fund-raising focus will be shared by St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. A silent auction for the first five convoy slots is slated for Friday, Aug. 8, with all proceeds going to those charities.
Friday festivities will include live performances by Tony Justice (special guests TBA) and concerts beginning in the afternoon and lasting into the night.
Justice's performance follows his recent headlining tilt during the concert in Freedom Hall of the Louisville convention center (pictured), attendant to the Mid-America Trucking Show.
Judging of the trucks commences Saturday, Aug. 9, beginning at 10 a.m., with the reboot of the Wisconsin Make-a-Wish convoy starting at 11. Kids’ activities will continue on Saturday, with Sirius XM Road Dog Trucking Radio host and Nashville recording artist Lindsay Lawler bringing her band up from Tennessee to close out the show, with other special guests.
“We’re going to be bringing Nashville to Baraboo!” Lawler said. “We’re going to do some good ol’ fashioned honky tonkin’. We’re gonna pull the curtain back and tell you stories behind the scenes in a hit songwriter session and then flip the switch for a good ol' fashioned honky tonk band, complete with two-stepping music for the crowd!”
Lawler's most recent record (pictured) was released in 2024.
To register, view show categories or become a sponsor of the show, visit the show website at this link.
“Waupun was a great show,” Riffey said. “We’ve scheduled ours for the second weekend of August so people who were used to going to the truck show that weekend might consider joining us. I’m super stoked to have Tony and Lindsay joining us and really knocking it out of the park for the first year in a new area, continuing what Waupun has been doing for 35 years.”
Riffey and show board members, pictured left to right: Laban Cook, Tyler Meister, Harley Dilley, Cody Meister, Riffey, Blake Westphal, Kevin Kropf. Their motto: "Big Rigs, Bigger Hearts, Truck'n for a cause."
[Related: This trucker's modest take on his truck]
