Though the Dukes of Hazzard’s run on television ended almost 20 years before Ryan Gilchrist was born, Gilchrist as a boy bonded with his dad by watching the show on DVD, the two of them enjoying the show’s car chases, stunts and funny moments together.
“When other kids were watching cartoons, I was watching the Dukes,” he said.
So on Saturday, the 23-year-old drove from Bucks County to Pottsville to meet the actress who played Daisy Duke and to get her autograph on his die-cast model of the “General Lee,” the orange Dodge Charger that the show made famous.
That actress, Catherine Bach, along with Tom Wopat, who played Luke Duke, and Jeff Altman, who played Hughie Hogg, were all on hand Saturday for the Great Pottsville Car Show, staged by the Pottsville Fire Company No. 1, formerly the Humane Fire Company.
The event, which raises money for the fire company, also included dozens of antique, classic and collectors’ cars lined up along Laurel Boulevard, with hundreds of people coming out to see them.
The actors drew long lines, especially Bach, and people posed for photos with a replica of the “General Lee” that was parked nearby, provided by Jeff Bowers of Minersville.
Signed memorabilia that Jim Biazza and Nico Biazza, both from Scranton, had signed by Catherine Bach, who played Daisy Duke on the hit show Dukes Of Hazzard. During the annual Great Pottsville Car Show Saturday Aug. 9, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Gilchrist said that he and his dad met most of the show’s other actors during an event in Virginia in 2017, where he got his model car signed by them. Bach’s signature was the last one he needed to obtain.
“I’ve been waiting eight years for this,” he said, which is why he was willing to drive from Bucks for the event.
Once he got home he planned to put the model back in its box and display it on his dresser. He said that if he ever has the misfortune of having his house catch on fire, that model would be one of the two things he’d grab first.
“I’d grab that, my Eddie Van Halen signed guitar, and run out,” he said.
Those who came Saturday to show off their vehicles were eligible for a number of trophies, including for best of show, best project car, best muscle car, best foreign car, best street rod, and most likely to win a police chase.
Among them was Ennis Kemfort, proudly showing off the 1934 Ford pickup truck, a hot-rod that had belonged to his longtime friend, Bill Kline of Pottsville, who passed away in 2023.
Kemfort, of Schuylkill Haven, bought the truck from Kline’s wife, and though Kline had never entered it in a show, Kemfort is more than making up for that, having showed it 28 times already this year.
“I’m its steward,” he said, proudly telling the story of the eye-catching truck and his friend.
Ennis Kemfort, of Schuylkill Haven, (center) talks with visitors about his 1934 Ford. During the annual Great Pottsville Car Show Saturday Aug. 9, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Kline owned Kline’s Body Shop in Pottsville, and the truck was the first vehicle he ever owned. He did a lot of work on it over the years, and though its color is close to robin egg blue, Kemfort prefers to call it “Bill Kline blue.”
“It’s been a work in progress since 1958,” Kemfort said.
Kemfort still enjoys driving it around the area, but had to disconnect the passing gear on the transmission because when he was passing another vehicle, it accelerated a little too quickly to be safe for local roads. It’s still plenty quick though, he said.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said.
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The flames on this 1941 Willys Coupe matched the hot weather during the annual Great Pottsville Car Show Saturday Aug. 9, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Jesse Cappel, Pottsville, looks under the hood of his 1968 Ford Mustang. During the annual Great Pottsville Car Show Saturday Aug. 9, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Fans lineup to meet Dukes Of Hazzard stars during the annual Great Pottsville Car Show Saturday Aug. 9, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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The flames on this 1941 Willys Coupe matched the hot weather during the annual Great Pottsville Car Show Saturday Aug. 9, 2025. (JOHNATHAN B. PAROBY/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Also displaying a car was Jim Maroukis of Cumbola, there with his white 1993 Dodge Shadow.
He bought the car new in 1992 after being attracted by its design, fuel economy, and peppiness, he said, and he still loves to drive it.
Amidst a number of vehicles from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, his Shadow stuck out and attracted a number of passers-by who remembered when that model was much more common on the highways.
Now Maroukis hardly ever sees another Shadow, he said, and when he does, it’s not quite in the pristine condition his is.
“When I see one now it usually looks like maybe it shouldn’t still be on the road,” he said.