DAYTON - Walla Walla's Dave Piper visits at least a dozen car shows a year with his 1934 Made-in-America Dodge D-T, but to him one of the best is the closest to home: Dayton's All Wheels.

He likes the Father's Day event that will once again shut down Main Street for a sea of chrome this weekend because the community supports it so well and puts on all kinds of activities to go with the show.

"You don't feel like you're intruding in the town at all," Piper said. "You feel like you're joining in on the celebration. They make you feel welcome. So many car shows just focus on the cars alone."

The 17th Annual Dayton

All Wheels runs Friday through Sunday, June 17-19.

The show starts on Friday night with car registration from 4 to 7 p.m. The presentation of cars starts at 7:30 p.m. live music by the Retreads plays downtown from 6 to 9 p.m. Fireworks on the hill follow at 9:30 p.m.

Cars can also be registered from 7 to 10 a.m. Saturday. The cars are parked on Main Street for viewing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. while other events take place, such as lawn mower drag races that start at 10 a.m. The soupedup lawn dragsters can reach speeds up to 60 m.p.h. in a space of 200-300 feet.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Poker Walk allows participants to accumulate cards, drawn from bags, at different spots on the route. The best poker hands get prizes.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the historic Dayton depot, cars motor along the railroad tracks.

At 2 p.m., men dress up in drag outfits and race tricycles.

"It is a riot," show committee member Del Avery said. "We got to pedal the tricycle about 200-300 feet. That really attracts a crowd. They go nuts over it and that is fun."

At 5 p. m. at the fairgrounds, the demo derby starts.

All 'n all, the turnout for the show looks good this year, Avery said.

" Every year, we run around 375 to 400 cars and according to the pre-registration this year, we've got more entries than ever before."

Piper, who is retired from the U.S. Corps Of Engineers, is one of them.

He has been working on cars ever since he can remember. Early influences were his father and brother who helped him to learn about cars.

Piper's car is a burgundyand white Dodge. It has an 1976 318 Dodge motor that he built himself along with a 727 automatic transmission, air conditioning and bronze ram hood ornament.

"It has been a lot of fun and a lot of hard work," Piper said. "I've been to a lot of shows with it. Dayton has always been a favorite of mine."

Del is a retired city police officer who has worked in animal control and drives school bus. His wife, Adena, is a rural mail delivery person and bus driver.

" We've got all kinds of cars from brand new to crankers," car owner Adena Avery. "You have to crank them to get them to start."

"It is one of the best car shows," Waitsburg's Lyall Kindelspire said. Kindelspire owns a bright orange 1955 Ford F150 truck. Kindelspire's truck has a 302 Ford engine and C-4 automatic transmission. It has been lowered all the way around.

Adena Avery owns a black and red trimmed 1923 T Bucket with a 350 Corvette engine it. It has a two-speed power slide transmission and nine-inch disc brake conversion kit on the front end.

The T Bucket has a chrome wheel column, chrome oil pan and chrome oversized fold-down windshield. It also has a wood grain dash with am/fm cassette radio.

Del Avery's car is a white 1962 Ford Falcon Ranchero with light blue trim. "It has been modified to the point where I couldn't find another spot to modify on it," he said.

The Falcon has a 1976 Ford 200-cubic-inch sixcylinder motor and Ford C-4 transmission. It has electric doors and a custom grill, and has been lowered four inches in front and back.

"I got the Ranchero in 1985 and my wife and I have spent 300-400 hours many a winter working on it," Del Avery said.

"The All Wheels is great because all of the people of Dayton really get behind it," Kindelspire said, "and support it so well. They are all so friendly."

That friendliness attracts a big father-and-son, fatherand daughter crowd each year. Sunday is highlighted by a Father's Day breakfast of pancakes, strawberries and whipped cream. Sausage, scrambled eggs, coffee, milk and juice are all also part of the meal.

The breakfast runs from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Youth building at the fairgrounds.

The golf tournament and putting challenge starts at 9 a.m. If anyone is lucky enough to win the putting challenge, the prize is $10,000 from sponsor Vesta.

"Nobody has won the big money yet," Adena Avery said. "A couple of people have come real close, from what I've heard."

On Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Project Timothy Benefit Poker Run for motorcycles and classic cars will send participants on a 118- mile course around western Washington to pick up cards for their poker hands. The event benefits a local church to help those in need.

The $25 entry fee includes a T-shirt and a shot at winning prizes for the best poker hands.

If you want more information about the events and ways to sign-up for activities, check on-line at www.allwheelsweekend.com

ALL WHEELS WEEKEND EVENTS

FRIDAY, June 17

4:00-7:00 pm Early car registration

6:00-9:00 pm Music by "The Retreads" on Main Street.

7:30 pm: Opening Ceremony American West Bank

9:00 pm: Presentation of Cars

Dark: Puget Sound Energy's Fireworks

SATURDAY, June 18

EVENTS IN DOWNTOWN DAYTON

7:00-10:00 am: Car registration at the corner of First and Main

9:00 am to 4:00 pm: Show-N-Shine on Dayton's Historic Main Street

10:00 am: Columbia REA Lawn Dragster Races on South Third

Street

Noon to 2:00 pm: Croft's Poker

11:00 am to 4:00 pm: Speeder Car Rides at the Historic Depot.

1:00 pm: Skye Book and Brew Slow Drags take over Main Street.

2:00 pm: Blue Mtn News Men's "Drag" Races.

2:45 pm: Columbia REA Lawn Dragster Races on South Third Street.

4:00 p.m. Trophy Presentation at the depot

EVENTS AT THE FAIR GROUNDS:

3:00 pm - Beer Garden opens

4:00 pm - Demo Derby time trials begin

5:00 pm - Abajian Toyota-Scion Demo Derby at the Fairgrounds

SUNDAY, June 19:

8:00 - 11:00 am -Father's Day Breakfast

Walla Walla car buff Dave Piper and the 1934 Dodge T-D he has taken to shows all over the country. Few shows, if any, are as good and as friendly as Dayton's All Wheels, he says.

9:00 am Vestas All Wheels Gold Tournament at the Touchet Valley

Golf Course.

11:00 - 4:00 pm Project Timothy Benefit Poker Run for motorcycles

and classic cars.