Street Masters Antique Car Rally Kicked Off Trader Days*
By Sunny Hannum
The Expo Center in Fort Pierre was the site for Street Masters** to gather Friday, August 7, from 6-10 p.m. The 2026 Dam Run “Daan de Caluwe and Ingeborg Van Osch Long Distance Award” went to Craig Euneau, Colorado Springs, CO. Craig traveled 590 miles to attend the event.
The award, named after our honorary members, Daan and Inge from Middenmeer, the Netherlands. They travelled 4,407 miles, or as they may say, 7,092 kilometers to attend our 2025 event. In all actuality, they traveled many more miles than that in their tour of across the northern tier of the US from Seattle to Pierre/Fort Pierre. Thanks to Craig and his kool “No Goat” Pontiac LeMans for making the trip !! 
The Street Masters continued with activities on Saturday that included a Dam Run Cruise and Ice Cream Social. Gravity Drags on Church Street and a Show n Shine at the Capitol grounds.
If you walked out the back door of the Expo Center and over to Lilly Park, you would have found 40 teams of barbecue chefs cooking up a “good time” after the Calcutta at 6 p.m. Friday evening. Next morning in the park, you would have found a couple of Verendrye Museum Board Members cooking up breakfast for anyone able to eat as early as 6:30 a.m. Voting on “people’s choice” began at 11:30 a.m. with a brisket lunch served until 2 p.m.
At the corner of Main & Deadwood in the heart of downtown Fort Pierre, a corn hole tournament was in full swing early by 11:30 a.m. Taking a slight break in the heat of the day, the Trader Days Committee continued with kids activities at 3 p.m. and sign up for turkey races. Mud wrestling at 4 p.m. was extremely popular and well attended with a lot of entries. See https://www.facebook.com/fortpierredevcorp/.
Beer chugging contest had a lot of entries which caused the turkey races to start a little later. After 10 heats of 4 turkeys each, two run off heats and a championship heat. The winning turkey was Wizenhouzer and his jockey was Bo Donald taking home $1,260 and the buckle provided by Total Beauty. This last event did not finish until 8 p.m. and was followed by a street dance featuring Dakota Country and their live music.
*Fort Pierre, South Dakota, held its first annual Trader Days event on August 16–18, 2018.
The celebration was created by the City and the Fort Pierre Chamber of Commerce to highlight the community’s rich history as a historic trading hub. It has since become a popular annual summer event featuring food trucks, a barbecue competition, and family activities.
The town’s Turkey Racing tradition originally started in nearby Pukwana, SD, before finding its permanent home in Fort Pierre in 1980. However, turkey races were discontinued during the 90s and brought back as part of the Trader Days in August 2022.
**The Street Masters Car Club in Pierre and Fort Pierre, South Dakota, is an automotive enthusiast non-profit organization active since 1988. They host local gatherings, charitable community donations, and the annual Street Masters Dam Run. For more information contact: Street Masters of Pierre South Dakota, Kale Urban, Membership Chairman, PO Box 185, Pierre, SD 57501 605-280-9807 – Annual Membership Dues: $30.00