We had the privilege of showing Patch and his family the lay of the land at the show via a ride-along on the official Ford Performance golf cart. Since he was also an honorary judge, we toured him through most of the show field so that he could select his favorite Ford to receive his celebrity pick award. It wasn’t until we rolled past rows of Ford Broncos when Patch made up his mind.

He asked us to come to a halt near a 1972 Ford Bronco named “The Duck” and owned by the Weaver family. The owners were overjoyed when Patch’s mother, Lindsay, informed them that their Bronco was Patch’s choice for a celebrity pick award. After a few minutes of explaining his story to the Weaver family, they let Patch and his siblings climb up into the lifted Bronco and go for a short ride around the Carlisle Fairgrounds. Patch had this to say about his selection:



Now it was time to for us to drive Patch over to the Carlisle Grandstands main stage for him to receive a special proclamation and award that few will ever see. Carlisle Mayor Timothy A. Scott announced to the crowd that this was officially “Patch Hurty Day,” and Carlisle Events presented him with a birthday cake while show attendees in the Grandstands sang “Happy Birthday” to him. Right after the mayor’s announcement and sing-along came the ever-popular burnout contest held between Grandstands and the stage. Since the Hurty family had never experienced any vehicle roast a set of tires, let alone see Mustangs do it, Patch was in for a real treat. We set him up with a front-row seat at center-stage and the tire smoke began.