Despite numerous showers, this year's 30th annual Findlay Military Show soldiered on to see a good turnout
of trucks, vendors, and people. I was told there were more vendors than ever, and after talking with a number of them,
most were relatively happy, especially if they happened to be under some sort of rain protection. There was no shortage
of trucks either. It didn't seem that the vehicle owners were that put off by the weather, and there was even a good number of
"first time" vehicles. The rain certainly had an effect on the show, but it didn't seem to dampen the spirits of attendees.
For the most part, everyone was there to have a good time, and wasn't going to let the rain ruin things.
Some of the highlight vehicles of the show included a 1942 M29 Weasel painted in an eye-catching white with black spots owned by Dan
Brewer from Linden, MI, and a very proper 1941 Dodge WC-3 owned by Mike Salay, from Medina, OH. A 1966 Ford M718 owned by Bonny
Bauman from Swanton, OH also caught my eye, as did a nice little 1960 M442 Mighty-Mite that George Diehl happened to have for sale.
In the old vehicle friends department, after a few years away it was great to see Dave Binkley's Chevy ton and a half, and it's never a
bad time to see a Studebaker, so seeing Ken Hoelscher's US6 is always good. I also want to mention Frank Ventresca, who told me how much
he loves working on his 1943 M3A1 White half-track, which he displayed at Findlay for the first time.
While in the German department, things were busy this year. Aaron Helman led a group of 2nd SS reenactors that debuted an interesting
Sd.Kfz. 222 armored car, co-owned by Nick Raymer that was repo'ed from Chevy 1500 chassis parts, and on the other side of the fairgrounds,
Richie Saft displayed a freshly completed Kettenkrad project.
