A Jeep for every year
Spectators at the Friday parade of the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival will get a history lesson.
In honor of the 75th anniversary of the original Bantam Jeep, there will be one Jeep from every year of its history at the head of the parade.
The first vehicle will be a re-created 1940 Bantam Reconnaissance Car, the original civilian Jeep.
More than 400 of the Jeep owners to register early also nominated themselves to be featured in the first 75.
“We are astounded by the amount of interest from Jeep owners to be part of this distinct group of Jeeps,” said Patti Jo Lambert, festival director.
Ken Boring, a festival committee member from West Sunbury, said the organizers got a Jeep for every year, though some of the older models were difficult to find.
Each Jeep will have a paper on its windshield noting what year it was made.
Watching the progression of the Jeep will be an educational experience, Boring said.
“You can see similarities and differences. It's pretty much totally different now,” he said.“It started out with the same body style as the military Jeep, and it has been changing and changing since then,” he said.Boring will ride his 1950 Jeep in the parade.His father bought him the Jeep, which was old and in disrepair, when he was 14 years old. By the time he was 17, he had it fixed up and on the road.Since then it has been in and out of storage, but it only required a little work to be ready for the parade, he said.“It's always been a part of me. If I haven't seen someone in a while, they'll ask me about my Jeeps,” he said.Dave Brudy of Mars will drive his 1974 CJ5 Jeep in the parade. It has been restored to all factory original parts and specifications, but is special for another reason.It originally belonged to another Mars resident, Steve Bartolac, who used it to plow driveways in the borough for free during the 1970s and 1980s.As a tribute to Bartolac, who is retired and still lives in Mars, Brudy bought the Jeep and had it restored in 1985.“The only reason I fixed it up was it was a nice memory,” Brudy said. “I'm proud of it because it has a story and an identity.”Ellen Roberts of Zelienople said she will ride in a 2007 Jeep that belongs to her son-in-law Fulton Romaro. Their family is coming from Charlotte, N.C., to participate in the festival.
Roberts, who has been a member of the festival committee since its first year, said that last time there was a parade people lined up outside Butler County Community College, where the parade starts, as well as along Main Street to see the Jeeps.The first 75 Jeeps will showcase a nice variety of vehicles, she said.“Some are stock, some are fancy. It will be a mish mash of all the years,” she said.The parade will start at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The Jeeps will start at BC3 and drive north on Main Street through downtown and out of the city on Route 8. Many of them will then return for the Jeep Invasion, which runs until 10 p.m.The first 75 Jeeps will be parked and showcased at the Westminster Presbyterian Church at 420 N. Main St. for the Jeep Invasion.The Jeep Parade and Jeep Invasion are sponsored by OMIX-ADA, XTO Energy, Pennzoil and Extreme Terrain.
