Vancouver’s Rob Logsdon gave the old heap a new life and is now reaping the rewards at car shows from the Northwest to Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Logsdon’s most recent award came last week in Des Moines, Iowa, where the truck with a purple pearl roof and chrome-base body won the NAPA Trick Truck Award.

At a show in Carlisle, Pa., the truck was one of 25 vehicles to receive an Elite Award. More than 250,000 entered the contest.

And in Tennessee, the Chevy truck was one of six chosen as a Goodguys Rod & Custom Association finalist.

Logsdon wouldn’t share how much he’s invested in the truck but said no one would ever pay him what it’s worth.

The transformation took three years and he credits Vancouver’s Lynn Darnell for much of the body work on the truck and Keith Grindell for the paint job.

Logsdon, 41, said he has eight cars made between 1937 and 1954, but by far this one has special meaning.

“It’s at the top of my stable,” Logsdon said.

Joining the club

An interview with Vancouver author Karen Kingsbury aired last week on Christian Broadcast Network’s “The 700 Club.”

The television crew had been to her home in Salmon Creek in November 2007 to film the segment. A portion of it was shown earlier this year on “The 700 Club.”

With more than 10 million copies of her 30-plus Christian-themed novels in print, the headline on the story at www.cbn.com, labeled Kingsbury the “Queen of Christian Fiction.”

Copies of CBN’s story and a video with interview with Kingsbury can be found on her Web site, www.karenkingsbury.com.

Art finds a home

Vancouver artist Renee Hyatt enjoyed the festive atmosphere and ever-changing crowds during the five years she had a booth at Portland’s Saturday Market.

The market was where she sold her beaded jewelry and got to know dozens of other Vancouver-Portland artists.

But the drawback that led her to leave the market and open her own shop at Jantzen Beach SuperCenter in Portland just south of the Interstate-5 Bridge was how temporary the market is each week.

Every Saturday and Sunday, vendors must construct their tents, set up their wares and then at the end of the day, pack the items and break down their tents and haul them away.

“Building a store and then tearing it down every day was a lot of work,” she said.

Hyatt, 38, is co-owner of Belle Sirota, where more than 30 artists display their jewelry and other handmade art.

Other Clark County artists represented at the store are Vancouver’s Lisa Linderman with her fused glass jewelry, Karen Wyatt of Camas, who makes scarves and jewelry, Kelly Crocker, who sells roasted almonds, and Vancouver’s Shana Sivley, with her beaded bracelets and earrings.