The variety of vehicles at the Findlay Show is always
interesting. This includes the mega-collections of Tom Price, Dick Mastin, and the Cheneys and their missiles, or Ralph Bennett Jr.
who made the long trip yet again from Foxboro, MA. Rest assured, most all of the usual favorites were there. One of my
favorite moments of the show was when WTOL Toledo 11 Reporter Dick Berry taped his report while sitting in Pam Cheney's Willys M38.
My least favorite thing was the rain, as not only did it hide the sun, but it also made it hard to meet new MV owners and talk about their vehicles.
As it happened, some of the most unusual post war vehicles this year came from Michigan. Christos Gryparis from Bloomfield Twp., MI displayed
his British 1958 Alvis Sarasen, and Ken Kline from Midland, MI showed his Austrian 1977 Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer 712K sub-compact 2.5-ton vehicle.
Of course, there were still all of the normal Findlay show attractions and events, including the OMP club meeting, Huey 369 flights, Marlboro Volunteers
displays, and the thriving reenactment camp, but there was a new and very popular addition to the schedule. At 3PM, Saturday, the grandstand was
full to watch a flamethrower demonstration performed by Charlie Hobson from Binghamton, NY. He and Tom Price actually demonstrated both hand held
and vehicle-mounted devices. To say it was impressive would be an under statement. I later heard that they could feel the heat over in the
vendor area! Luckily the demo was able to finish, just before the storm started, however the same cannot be said about the annual pass in review.
By the time the storm had passed, the public had left and show organizers didn't see the point of getting owners to move their trucks.
