Submitted Photo Pictured are some of the trucks that took part in last year’s event Horns of Hope event at the Chautauqua County Fairground.

The Horns of Hope Convoy will be returning for its second year at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds on Saturday. The trucks will depart from the fairgrounds at 11:55 a.m., and parade around the county, departing from the fairgrounds to Vineyard Drive, then going to Westfield via Route 20 and Barcelona, before taking Route 5 back to Dunkirk.

What originated as a birthday present for her son Nathen, Johnnie Lindstrom has turned Horns of Hope into a yearly event, and she’s keeping things consistent from last year to this. The Optimus Prime replica will be returning this year, and there are new things on the docket, such as a tree carving from Vince the Tree Guy and Tim Barlette being on hand for live music from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event itself will begin at 10 a.m. and go until 5 p.m. at the Fairgrounds.

Lindstrom is expecting the same number of trucks as last year as well. There are 60 semis registered for the event, which is the same amount that registered last year, meaning Lindstrom is expecting closer to 80 trucks at the event. Fire trucks from Brocton, Westfield, Fredonia, and Dunkirk will be there, and Lindstrom is hoping to see another municipality send something.

“I’m hoping to see Cassadaga or Forestville or Sheridan send trucks, just for the community,” said Lindstrom.

The semis are coming from all over as well, including a couple from the Baltimore area, thanks to a connection Lindstrom has with an old classmate who now lives down there.

Other new inclusions for this year will be added food trucks, with the Polish Villa food truck being on hand, St. Stephens Cafe for coffee and breakfast sandwiches, an ice cream truck, and Happy Camper Snack Shack from Erie, who will be doing hotdogs, among other options, making the food variety plentiful. There will also be a cornhole tournament and rider and driver appreciation awards, which are both new.

Lindstrom did say that they are low on riders for the trucks, and they are still accepting riders. The riders are either children with terminal illness or disabilities, or old truckers with disabilities who can no longer drive their trucks.

The basket raffle will also be returning, though it will be much smaller than last year, which had more than 160 baskets. Lindstrom said they will be accepting basket donations until 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. Lindstrom said they appreciate the support from the community when it comes to this whole process.

“We appreciate the support and patience on Saturday of the community,” said Lindstrom. “We’re going to tie traffic up like we did last year and we appreciate the patience.”

Proceeds for the event are once again going to Western New York Make a Wish, and while Lindstrom said she has concerns with the potential turnout of the event this year due to the holiday weekend, it will all be worth it if it draws even one smile.

“There’s no price tag on the smiles that were made,” Lindstrom said. “If we make one person smile on the day of the event, then it was worth it.”