A total of 115 vehicles were entered to compete at the second annual Onalaska Volunteer Firefighters Association car show, according to volunteer firefighter Oliver Jackson, who emceed the event Saturday at the Lewis County Fire District 1 fire station.
It was an increase in participation after 101 vehicles took part in the show in 2022, said Jackson, who was pleased to see the event grow.
By 1 p.m. Saturday, the association had received nearly $10,000 in donations, volunteer firefighter Kathy Kessel said. The final total was still being tallied.
Kessel said the majority of the money will fund the purchase of a new turnout extractor and dryer for the firefighter’s gear, but money will also go toward scholarships for Onalaska High School seniors and to provide food and supplies to local families in need during Christmastime.
“We need a special washer and dryer that can remove smoke and ash from firefighter gear, which is really dense and heavy,” Kessel said. “The smoke and ash cause cancer and regular washing machines don’t remove it all. The washer and dryer for them aren’t cheap.”
Kessel said the show was held in honor of Richard “Dick” Fuchs, who helped organize the inaugural car show last year but has since died. His family was in attendance and entered his 1937 Ford delivery wagon hot rod, which won the Fireman’s Choice award at this year’s show.
Jackson said the association plans to hold the third annual Onalaska Volunteer Firefighters Association car show next year, again on the second Saturday in August.
Among the 115 vehicles at the show, four that stood out to The Chronicle were a 1991 Mazda B2200 low-rider truck, a 1969 Citroën DS21 Safari wagon, a 1969 Volkswagen Type II “Hippie” bus and the winner of the inaugural Onalaska Volunteer Firefighters Association car show last year, a 1944 Ford U.S. Navy 1 and 1/2 ton flatbed truck.
Last year’s winner
The 1944 Ford truck was purchased by Frank Wood’s father in 1952. His father purchased it as a surplus truck from the Navy in Rhode Island. His father refused to sell it as it was built in the same year D-Day occurred, Wood said. Wood currently lives in Randle.
“He hauled lumber in Rhode Island, and in 1953, moved out to California with my mom and two sisters in this truck,” Wood said. “It was sitting in our yard for 27 years, just rotting into the ground, and when my father passed away about 29 years ago, I decided to restore it in his memory.”
It took Wood about six years to restore the truck, which still has most of its original parts aside from the engine, which is a 1949 Mercury flathead motor, installed by Wood’s father after he blew the original engine.
Wood plans to keep the truck in his family. While his son and daughter aren’t interested in keeping the truck, which Wood understands as the old truck requires a lot of special care and attention, he plans on passing it along to his nephew, who is about to retire from the U.S. Army.
“If he decides to sell it in 30 years, I’d want him to actually give it to my grandson if he wants it. If not, sell it and go have a nice vacation,” Wood said. “If he could give it to my grandson at that point in time, it will have been in our family for 100 years.”
Low-rider Mazda
While it’s still a work in progress, Robert Clark’s 1991 Mazda B2200 low-rider truck is a custom cruiser already. Clark, who lives near Mossyrock, has modified low-rider cars since he was a teenager and has done all the work on his Mazda.
“The roof’s been chopped, the front A-pillar’s been chopped 6 inches and moved back three degrees, full air-ride, the frame’s been chopped eight inches in the back,” Clark said.
He purchased the truck in 2017 and plans on finishing it this winter. Clark is also a member of the Illstyle Car Club.
The ‘Hippie’ cars
Certainly some of the most eccentric cars at the show, the 1969 Citroën DS21 Safari wagon owned by Steve and Marianne McCarthy and 1969 Volkswagen Type II “Hippie” Bus owned by Joel and Pam LaFayette had all the makings of “Hippie” classics.
The McCarthys’ Citroën was painted bright yellow and adorned with Beatles memorabilia and even an inflatable “yellow submarine” tower on its roof while the LaFayettes’ Volkswagen featured hand-painted art straight out of the 1960s.
Steve McCarthy explained he and his wife — long-time friends with the LaFayettes — were visiting his mother in Olympia and just happened to drive up from California the same weekend the car show was happening.
“It took us four days to drive up from LA. We took the 101 the whole way, the scenic route,” Steve McCarthy said.
“It’s really fun that we’re friends and we both have ‘69s sitting together. This is a perfect representation of 1969,” Marianne McCarthy added.
Aside from its Beatles theme, the French-made wagon features tiny Eiffel Towers in its bullet-style tail lights.
The LaFayettes reside in Onalaska. Pam LaFayette said their biggest hope is to restore the “Hippie” bus’ custom paint job. There’s just one problem: They don’t know who painted it.
“We’re looking to find whoever painted it because we’d like the original artist to touch it up for us,” Pam LaFayette said. “I can do it, but I’d rather that person do it.”
The LaFayettes are currently working with a curator at the LeMay Car Museum in Tacoma who is attempting to help track down the artist, but they’ve had no luck yet.
