JUST FOR JEEPS
WORTH TWP — This June the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival is bringing it back. All the way back to the origins of Jeep grills in the 1940s and 1950s.
Eighteen grills, seven of them reconstructed by Tom Franks of Mars and 11 of them originals, will be on display at the sixth annual festival June 10-12 at Cooper's Lake Campground.
The display is the brainchild of Bill Ringeisen, a Friends of Bantam Jeep Association board member.
“I thought it would be a good idea to show the people how the Jeep started, how the grills started out and how they grew,” he said.
The prototype for the first Jeep was developed in Butler as a response from the United States Army for a combat vehicle during World War II. Butler's American Bantam Car Co. built the prototype in 12 weeks for a durable, light, all-purpose transportation vehicle.
This year is the first one that the festival is run by The Friends of Bantam Jeep Association. For the first five years, it was run by the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.
“The process took longer than we had hoped, but we have a good partnership,” said festival director Patti Jo Lambert. “We're looking forward to charting our own course and we are committed to supporting other nonprofit groups in our community.”
Lambert mentioned that 14 non-profits will be partnering with The Friends of Bantam Jeep Association, which will donate festival proceeds to them.
Also new to the festival will be the opportunity to win a total of $23,000 worth of Jeep merchandise. Contest rules are on www.bantamjeepfestival.com/ultimate-jeeper-contest.
Another contest will consist of people taking pictures of their faces next to the grills of their Jeeps and entering them into a random drawing. The winners will receive prizes such as free registration for the 2017 festival and festival merchandise.
Participants must be at least 18 years old to drive a Jeep at the festival. Those who are can participate in the first Thursday night ride on a trail at the campground.
“It's a whole different experience to ride a trail at night versus riding a trail at day,” Lambert said.
Of course, there will be fan favorites returning.
That Friday night will feature the Jeep Invasion in downtown Butler where thousands of people see hundreds of various Jeeps.
There will be a military encampment showing off the Jeeps used in the armed forces.
In addition, Jeep owners will be able to buy Jeep parts from vendors, and there will be Jeep workshops.The on-site trails will be back at the campgrounds. There will be five, from those for road-friendly Jeeps to those for Jeeps with off-road tires that can handle tough terrain.“People love to trail ride,” Lambert said. “It's a big part of why people come to the event.”The Jeep Playground also will be back. It serves as an obstacle course for Jeeps, featuring piles of dirt, a mud pit, bridges made out of telephone poles and a new, surprise obstacle.Lambert is glad to have these staples of the festival for the loyal patrons.“It's almost like a family reunion,” she said. “There are hundreds and hundreds of people who come back every year and meet the people they've met there (before).”However, she's just as excited for the newcomers, and has a message for them.“If you like Jeeps and cars of all kinds, it's definitely a place to come, because you'll see anything you could ever imagine,” she said. “If you aren't a Jeep lover by the time you arrive, you probably will be by the time you leave.”
