October means two things in Hazzad County, the Hazzard Run and Halloween in Hazzard Costume Contest! I look forward to that special fall Saturday and so do many of my fellow Dukes fans and Hazzard citizens. This year was another great event filled with amazing General Lees, Hazzard Patrol Cars, Jeeps, Caddys, and more Hazzard cars as well as a bunch of great costumes. And we can't forget the wonderful music and celebrity guests. It was such a perfect day at Cooter's in Luray. In this post we'll look at the sights and sounds from the Run, I'll tell you all about my Waylon Jennings costume, look at the entrants to the costume and talk about the heartfelt tribute to Rick Hurst. Put your seatbelt on, it's time for the Hazzard Run!
Dukes fans are the most fortunate fans in the world! We get to participate in the thing we love most, the Hazzard County parade! We are so lucky to have Cooter's and Ben and Alma. They do so much for us fans and we are so grateful. Thanks again Ben and Alma!
We had a great turnout for the Run. I love flying the drone above all these beauties. It looks like my desk at work full of 1/64 Ertls.
The weather was perfect all day. A few years ago it was a little rainy, but this Run saw sun and perfect temps.
We all know Bobby Scott runs the Run and no one could do it like he does. He assured us that there will be more Runs to come and the crowd was very excited to hear that. You're the best Bobby!
I rode shotgun with Jim Dahlman once again. After I snapped this picture I told Jim that I'm making it his contact photo in my phone. That is one happy Duke Boy right there.
Like previous years, Jim let strap the GoPro to his General Lee. This time we went on his newly applied fresh rebel flag decal. It looks perfect. In the past we put the camera on the door and on another car in front of us. Having it on the roof made for a great angle. Below is the run in almost its entirety. You never know when the memory card is going to fill up. I edited some runs from the past on the end of the video. I think it came out really nice.
The lovely Dorothy Best rode in our pal Mike Phinney's Patrol Car. Mike entered the costume contest in the past as Enos and as Cooter.
Hey Hugie Hogg is trying to steal the General Lee!
Don't worry, Deputy Silly Bill Lambing will catch him!
It's our good pals Bill Shaffer and Jon Holland!
It is always so awesome seeing so many Generals straighten' curves and flattenin' hills.
Jim looks like he didn't expect Waylon to be riding with him. More about my costume coming up.
It's not all orange at the Run. I love seeing beauties like this perfect Uncle Jesse pickup, and at least one Uncle Jesse inside.
Though there were no bridges jumped, we had a blast driving through Page County.
Of course, in our heads it was Hazzard County, buy Luray and Page County are always so good to us. The Run was a blast.
The parade of General Lees and other Hazzard cars isn't the only part of the Run. I love that I've been privileged to host four annual costume contests at the Hazzard Run. It's so much fun. Though I don't enter the contest, I always dress up. In the past I've been Bo from Carnival of Thrills, Coltrano The Great, Rosco as a magician, from Opening Night At the Boars Nest, and Bo from Undercover Dukes. I came up with my 2025 costume while at the 2024 Hazzard Run. I knew this year, I had to be Balladeer Waylon Jennings. I love props with costumes and knew the centerpiece to this costume would be Waylon's signature guitar seen at the beginning of every episode of the Dukes of Hazzard. I didn't really want to spend thousands of dollars on a licensed replica and decided to make my own. I found a decent used Harmony guitar that would stand in for Waylon's signature Fender. I enlisted my super talented cousin Jake Vlosich to create the decals.
Jake has a Cricut and he knows how to use it. I've heard about these smart cutting machines, but never saw one in action. I sent Jake some reference images of Waylons axe and strap and Jake took it from there.
The look I was going for was a mixture of the Dukes theme single album and the first image seen of the theme song before each episode. Waylon has a strap carrying his guitar on the album cover, but not on the show intro. I decided to opt for the strap because otherwise I would be carrying the not-so-light guitar all day. Jake decorated the strap and the guitar to match Waylon's to perfection.
Saying Jake is talented doesn't do him justice. He's been a pro at the Cricut for years and is also very good at Photoshop and other design software. And he's only sixteen. Watching him at work, I got so many ideas about Dukes designs and uses for the Cricut. The guitar is the first, but it will not be the last time we see Jake's talent lent to DukesCollector.
This this is amazing! If only I knew how to play it!
Jake, thank you so much for making this costume work. This guitar is perfect and the costume would not have worked without it. I wish I would have taken a picture with cousin Jake and the guitar.
I used these two images as the inspiration for the costume. I briefly considered covering my face to really drive home the joke Waylon makes on the album version of the theme song. On the TV show, there are four verses to Good Ol' Boys, but on his album version he adds another verse that says:
"I'm a good ol' boy
You know my mama loves me
But she don't understand
They keep showing my hands and not my face on TV"
This is a joke, of course references the above image which is the first thing you see when watching the Dukes. Here's a bit of trivia for you. Do you know why they only show Waylons's hands and not his face on TV?
Waylon was smoking at the time and Warner Bros didn't deem that appropriate. Waylon's head was cut out of the shot and the rest is TV history. Covering my face might have been a little to much of an inside joke that not everyone would understand, and finishing the costume with a wig and fake beard would be much more fun.
Oddly enough, besides the guitar, the only thing I had to buy was the hat. The shirt and leather vest belong to my uncle and I borrowed the (tight) jeans and boots from my dad. I even found the perfect sunglasses in my mom's drawer. This costume came together so perfectly.
I stayed with a group of friends for the weekend in a big house. We've all stayed together before but in separate cabins. This was the first time for me to stay with everyone like this. It was super fun waking up early and putting on my wig and beard and seeing everyone's face when they came out of their rooms to see Waylon. Here I am posing with Jim Cunningham's amazing Waylon-ed up General Lee. Also at the house were Jim's wife Laura, Bill and Adriane Shaffer, Billy Lambing, Matt and Jill Thomas, Mike Phinny, Alex Page, and AJ and Caitlin Stevens. This was a heavy hitter group of diehard Dukes fans. I'm blessed to have been added to this group. The whole stay was a blast!
For a second I watched a little Dukes before heading off to the Run and Silly Billy snapped a picture of it.
Here's me and Silly Billy himself with Dukes on in the background.
As soon as I got to Cooter's in costume, I knew where I wanted to take a picture. This is perfect!
I thought this was a fun image.
Jim loved having Waylon ride in his car. He was just fooling in that other picture above.
This is my favorite picture I took all day. It took a few tries, but I think I nailed the pose with this one.
Oh man, this makes me so happy.
I've been planning this costume for a year, and working on it for over a month. Right about a month before the event, it was announced that Waylon's grandson Whey Jennings would be a special guest at the Hazzard Run. As soon as I got word, I made a huge GULP noise. I hoped that Whey would like the idea of me dressing up as his grandfather, but really had no idea how he'd react. I happened to be sitting in full costume in the Cooter's back office with just Alma when Whey walked in. He was surprised to see me in my costume but he loved it. I was so relieved. When he was performing, though, he did stop between songs and point me out from the stage and jokingly say "you are freaking me out man!" Everyone got a kick out of that.
To the Halloween in Hazzard Costume Contest Entrants!
The first entrant is Sky Rosenberger. She dressed as the Dukes of Hazzard Fairy. I loved her costume. Her fairy has a dynamite wand and rebel flag wings. Sky's mom, Serena, reached out to me before the event and told me how excited Sky was about entering. After our talk, I couldn't wait to meet Sky. She knows so much about Dukes! I love talking to young fans and Sky is going to carry the Dukes on for generations!
It's the Dukes of Hazzard Fairy and the Dukes of Hazzard Balladeer!
Alma and Tom loved meeting Sky as well!
Sky made these adorable Duke cousins and loved showing them off. She also made me an orange 01 bracelet that I wore all day. Thanks so much for coming Sky, I can't wait to talk Dukes with you again soon!
Last year's winner in the Individual category, David Daniels, brought his impeccable Uncle Jesse once again, but bowed out from entering the contest to give someone else a shot at winning. That is such an Uncle Jesse thing to do.
Justin Fowler entered as Cletus Hogg. He even had a mourning band across the badge in honor of our friend Rich Hurst. That is such a great way to pay tribute to Cletus! Great job Justin!
Conner Blackburn really nailed his Bo Duke costume!
Your pal and mine, Cousin Don Covell entered as Hughie Hogg.
It's always great catching up with Don.
Dominic Laurita did a great Enos! Possum on a gumbush Dominic, you look outstanding!
Amanda Rodgers and Freckles dressed as Rosco and Flash! Even canines love the Dukes of Hazzard!
Our good buddy Curtis Moore brought his extremely detailed Rosco P. Coltrane costume to the contest once again. Curtis always looks great!
In the group category we have Johnna Lombardo as Flash, Kim Lacey as a bad guy, Patrick Rice as Rosco and Dylan Fleming as Cooter. This is a great group entry and I love the originality of all the costumes. I love how many Flashes we have this year. Great job gang!
Also in the group category is Hazzard County's finest. Rick Carter as Cletus, Brandon Bergin as Enos and James Royster as Rosco. Hanging with James is Iron Horse. These guys look so good, they might actually catch the General Lee!
Antonio sent me this group picture and I'm so happy he did. The only group picture I got, the microphone stand is cutting off his face.
The winners of the 2025 Hazzard in Halloween Costume Contest are:
Best Under 18: The Dukes of Hazzard Fairy Sky Rosenberger
Best Group: Hazzard County's Finest James, Rick and Brandon
What a wonderful group of costumes! Thank you so much to everyone who entered. If you didn't win this year, please enter again next year. If you did win this year, congratulations and please enter again next year! I love how many Flashes we had and I'm shocked we didn't have any Daisys this year. Every year brings something different and that is so cool. Next year we will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the contest. This is so great!
While taking a break from all the Balladeering and contest hosting, Waylon Jennings enjoys an Uncrustable and a selfie.
The costume contest is a draw to the event for some people but we all know who the stars are, well, the stars. And this year the Hazzard Run saw star Tom Wopat, as well as Jeff Altman and Dorothy Best.
I love being a fly on the wall and seeing people interact with the the cast. Hey look, Richie, the Luke to my Bo, dressed up as Tom Wopat for the costume contest.
It's so cool getting to know Jeff Altman.
We're so glad Hughie Hogg has become such a big part of the Cooter's Dukes family.
Dorothy had no idea it was me under the wig and fake beard. Actually a lot of people didn't. That's one of my favorite parts of Halloween. I get it from my mom. She had this perfect old man mask she used to wear at the high school and no one knew who she was. One year she wore a full Brownsville Falcon football uniform with pads and all and we covered her face with a blackout mask. She scared her students all day. We love Halloween! Dorothy really enjoyed the costume. We also had a great conversation about her friend Quentin Tarantino. I told her about my interactions with him and how he pointed me out at the Dukes movie premier and introduced me to Seth Greene after remembering meeting me months before. Dorothy was not surprised at all and said that's just how Quentin is. It was such a fun conversation.
Tom told me he liked my costume. Always great getting some kind words from Tom.
I was blessed to host the tribute to our late friend Rick Hurst. Miss Alma gave me the opportunity to share a few stories about Rick and then introduce her, Dorothy, Jeff, and then Tom up to the stage to talk about their friend. Everyone shared warm stories about Rick and it was very nice. We miss you Cletus!
Tom sang a few songs about Rick. It was a very somber moment. Our pal Silly Billy took the opportunity to snap a picture of me during Tom's performance and bring the mood back up by saying I look like a Waylon Jennings cardboard standup much like the Bo and Luke standups along the wall. Great pic Billy!
I know those Hoggs!
Cousin Don even drove in character as he crafted an updated Hughie Hogg VW Beetle Convertible!
Let's take a few moments to enjoy all these wonderful Hazzard Cars!
Hey, the General Lee belongs there!
I'm really glad I met Antonio. We've talked a few times over email since the event and I feel like I made a new friend. I look forward to talking to you again soon brother!
I got to catch up with Ray Kohn from Northeast Ohio Dukes. Ray does so many amazing stunt shows. It was so cool hearing about his latest fountain jump. I can't wait to see another one of his jumps in person.
After the event, we headed back to our vacation house and partied some more.
I bought this shirt earlier this year and wore it a few times while doing "Larry Things," but this is the most "Larry Things" I could possible do while wearing this shirt.
Our house is a part of a local campground and the managers of the grounds asked if we would drive the Hazzard cars through the area. They host Halloween festivities each weekend of October so they were having trick or treating and we were a part of it. I rode in the back of Silly Billy's patrol car. Something I've never done before.
It was fun and the kids and their parents really enjoyed it. I made the joke that earlier we were in the Hazzard Run and this slow parade was more like the Hazzard Walk.
It was basically a dream come true to have six Hazzard cars right outside my door. Thanks again for including me gang. We are already booked for next year and I can not wait!
We ended the day with, what else? Episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard. What a perfect weekend!
Last year, I left the Hazzard Run knowing what I was going to dress up as this year. I loved the two Bo costumes and the magician Rosco costume, but I think this is my best work. I have no idea what I'm going to do next year.
I bought a guitar stand because I just can't put this in a closet like last year's Mr. Jones the Monkey or Rosco's magic wand. This amazing guitar is now a part of my Dukes of Hazzard Collection! Thanks again Jake for helping me with this beauty.
This image makes me so happy. I'm glad Whey Jennings approved and I'm so happy the Dukes cast members that knew Waylon liked my costume. I got to make a tribute to Waylon and be a part of the tribute to Rick Hurst. The 2025 Hazzard Run was another perfect Dukes event at Cooter's! I can't wait to do it again!
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