By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
Special to Hays Post
Participants in this year’s Thunder on the Plains vehicle show and fundraiser in Hays experienced more than the thunder of loud cars and motorcycles Friday evening.
A storm with thunder, lightning and rain hit the area just after the classic vehicles left Municipal Park following their cruise down Main Street to the park on South Main.
But Saturday dawned bright and beautiful for the ninth-annual show that also includes trucks and tractors.
Almost 200 vehicles from around the state and a couple of neighboring states covered the park's grounds, where folks enjoyed a pleasant day of walking after Friday's storm.
Committee members were pleased with the turnout, especially since the date was changed from its former weekend in September to the second weekend of June.
Many awards were given to vehicle owners, including the one that traveled the farthest (Dan Rosenblatt from Littleton, Colorado) and the oldest (a 1930 five-window coupe owned by Shorty Lawrence from Scott City). An even older vehicle, Hays’ first motorized fire truck (a 1921 model), also was on display at the event.
While visitors enjoyed browsing the park and checking out the shiny restored vehicles, the Thunder committee says the show's primary purpose has always been to raise money for charity.
The organization awards up to four scholarships for graduating seniors who will attend NCK Tech in either the auto mechanics or auto body repair program.
On Saturday, the committee presented $2,000 checks to seven different local organizations, using money gathered from local and area sponsors.
Thunder had decided beforehand to gift the entire proceeds from the live auction to Make-A-Wish Missouri & Kansas, a nonprofit organization that helps fulfill the wishes of seriously ill children. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is nationwide, and the Thunder donations are awarded to children in Ellis County.
The auction garnered $11,710, most of which came from a red leather sofa with working LED tail lights made from the back of a 1955 Chevrolet.
Auctioneer Roger Legleiter from Farmland Auction and Realty Co., who volunteered his services for the auction, included the crowd in the bidding, helping urge on Mike Hertel from Hays and Don Kopfman from Munjor in a bidding war for the couch.
Kopfman ended up winning the bid of $8,100. Make-A-Wish also earned $3,000 from a raffle for a grill and another $500-pluis from a 50-50 raffle.
Make-A-Wish is near and dear to Jackie Lang, a long-time member of the Thunder organization with her late husband, Mark. And Saturday was an especially emotional day for Jackie.
The Langs took their oldest son, Brett, to Disney World in 2010, thanks to Make-A-Wish when they lived in Oklahoma, and Brett died from cancer two years later.
Mark Lang, who had done much of the bodywork on the vehicle part of the couch for this year’s auction, died unexpectedly this past Christmas Eve. Others helped finish the couch in time for Saturday’s auction. Mark’s employer, Oldham Sales in Hays, donated the grill that was raffled off.
Thunder volunteers had fun posing for pictures with Hertel and Kopfman sitting on the couch with Make-A-Wish recipient Angelina Molstad between them.
Angelina and Macie Kieffer, both from Hays, have enjoyed trips to Disney World – thanks to generous donors such as Thunder on the Plains – and attended Saturday’s activities.
Thunder had planned to do a public Make-A-Wish reveal on Saturday for 3-year-old Damon Sheeley from Victoria, whose family makes frequent trips to Kansas City for his leukemia treatments at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
However, Damon was not feeling well on Saturday and couldn’t attend the car show and auction.
Damon and his family—Mom Kylie, Dad Joseph, and four older siblings—will visit Disney World in December.
“We are so thankful to Make-A-Wish for this trip,” Damon’s mother said. “When we learned of Damon’s condition, it changed our lives, of course. We have friends who help out a lot with our other kids. We just had to build an army to help. And our older kids are a big help, too. It’s a family effort.”
Jackie Lang said it also takes a family effort to make Thunder on the Plains a success.
“We wouldn’t be able to do this if it weren’t for all our families helping out,” she said. “The day of the show, we all bring spouses and children and other family members.”
Addie Foster from Stockton, the Wish specialist for the area, works with families to learn their child’s wish and fill out paperwork, etc. Wishes often involve trips, but Foster stressed that it’s something the child wishes for.
One child wished for a special birthday party and another for a camper for her family. Make-A-Wish Missouri & Kansas's motto is “transform lives, one wish at a time.”
“It’s very rewarding working with these families,” Foster said, “and we are so very grateful for donations such as these.”