LYNDORA — They come from Butler, Portersville, Leechburg, New Brighton, Moon Township and other communities in Western Pennsylvania.

Affectionately known as “Jeepers,” they come together to share in a common cause — to put together the annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival, which, this year, is set for Friday to Sunday, June 13 to 15.

“We have close to 500 volunteers overall, but 50 to 60 come to the (monthly) meetings on a regular basis,” festival director Patti Jo Lambert said. “Half of them are married couples.

“It’s always been that way. Jeeps become part of their family, their lifestyles … The festival just becomes part of that. Jeepers tend to come together. Nobody wants to ride alone.”

There are 14 married couples on the planning committee. They enjoy the camaraderie of the meetings, almost as much as the festival itself.

When asked how long he was married to wife Judi, Jim Ellis, of New Brighton, responded: “115 years.”

They’ve actually been married for 45.

Judi pretended her husband was another man at the meeting prior to being interviewed, just to throw the reporter off track.

“We have three Jeeps between us,” she said of her husband. “We’ve been coming to the festival for years and decided to help out.

“I used to do motocross when I was younger. That transitioned into Jeeps.”

Ed and Judy Wadding, of Center Township, have been married 63 years and have been on the committee since the birth of the Jeep festival 15 years ago. They do not own a Jeep.

Ed originally got involved with the Jeep festival through the tourism bureau, now called Experience Butler County. He and his wife have been part of the planning committee ever since.

“It’s the people,” Judy said. “We’re involved in a lot of other things, but this is so different. These are down-to-earth, homegrown people who work hard. You just get that feeling when you’re around them.

“The invasion (when all the Jeeps parade into Butler) is the most wonderful part of it for me. A Jeep’s been here from Australia, from Europe … they come from everywhere.”

Ed has worked with the festival’s tickets, while Judy had been the event’s banker.

Tim and Barbara Stewart of Portersville have been married for 54 years. They’ve served on the committee for two.

“My son, Tim Jr., got us involved in Jeeps,” Tim Stewart said. “We used to go riding with him, and he talked us into becoming involved with the festival.

“I have my own Jeep now, and I like to ride on trails and country roads.”

“I go with him,” his wife said. “That’s his ‘fun-mobile.’”

Shawn and Lynn Edwards, of Butler, have been together for 15 years. They do more than attend committee meetings and work at the festival — they live at the festival, as do others.

They work the festival from 8 a.m. that Thursday until 1 a.m., then camp out at Cooper’s Lake for the duration of the event.

“Everyone sits around the campfire and talks at night,” Lynn said. “It’s spending time with friends. Everybody gets together and it’s a good time. I love the open-air of a Jeep, riding with the top off.”

Shawn works in the “recovery” of Jeeps, helping those that get stuck or topple over during the course of the festival.

“I enjoy helping people,” he said.

Dave and Megan Baird, of Leechburg, will celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary in October. They’ve served on the committee for five years.

“I’m a big Jeeper. I own eight of them, I build them, from a1986 Comanche to a 2005 TJ Wrangler,” Dave said. “I probably have enough parts to build four more. My dad’s always had Jeeps — I’ve been around them my whole life.

“I got my first Jeep at age 15. My dad was my idol. I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

So it goes with the Jeep community.

“It’s such an extended family event,” Barbara Stewart said. “The community comes together. Anyone who has never been to the Jeep festival should come see what it’s all about.”