Art let me know that the Spring Willys Reunion is on schedule for May 20-21. This is always a great event.

http://www.willysreunion.com/swr22.htm

This year’s Bantam Jeep Festival will be taking place June 10-12th.

This weekend Bill Falconer and NEWJO will be hosting a swap meet and get together in Deering, NH on Saturday October 30th. There’s more information available on their FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/808459766507203/ … 134 Deering Center Rd, Deering, NH.

UPDATE: This event is this weekend.

Bob Christy’s 2021 Northern Ohio Flatfender Willys Gathering takes place September 12, 2021. It should be another great event!

UPDATE: Dan’s event is this weekend!

Dan’s FC Jamboree is still happening in Lake Mills, Iowa, September 10-11.

UPDATE: The Crew made it to Ontario, Oregon last night. They should have some beautiful weather for the remainder of their trip. Unfortunately, the group will not have the time to swing north to our place. Having done our fair share of trips, we totally understand and wish them luck!

On another note, I finally officiated the wedding this past Saturday. It went off with only one hitch … that would be me hitching them together 🙂 … this is why I never went into comedy … so, becoming a minister and marrying someone can now be checked off my bucket list!

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Originally Post August 18th –The Epic Willys Crew (view on Facebook) has made considerable progress, reaching deep into Wyoming (last I saw). Despite several unscheduled stops (err .. breakdowns), the group has soldiered forward through temps reaching 100 degrees.

We expect they will arrive here in Prosser sometime midweek next week, so we’ve been making sure the place is ready. The small house has new floors and (hopefully, new interior paint). I’ve made progress on the shop and (again hopefully) I will have it somewhat organized by their arrival. With no heat domes forecast for next week, the weather should be warm and dry. Apart from preparations, Ann’s surgery recovery, her mother’s doc appointments, presiding over a wedding (this weekend) and unexpected dog issues have kept me from providing any eWillys updates.

Here are some pics from the Epic crew so far (in a fairly random order) …

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Kyle let me know about Heritage New Jersey’s first Jeep invasion for pre-1986 jeeps. Learn more at the event’s website: https://www.njjpinvasion.com/heritagenjjpinvasion

Will Springer let me know that the 2021 Southeast Willys Jeep Get Together will be held Saturday October 2, 2021, at a new location: 125 Underwood Road, Fletcher, NC 28732

Learn more: https://southeastwillysjeepgettogether.com

This year marks the 55th annual Mile-Hi Jeep Club’s All-4-Fun event, a week-long event that changes locations each year. An appeal went out to the International Flat Fender Club in the hope of finding some more vintage jeeps to enjoy the experience. Registration is currently open, but closed June 30th. The cost is $500 for the week, July 31-August 7.

According to Bob Western, it looks like Pennsylvania will allow this year’s Great Willys Picnic to be hosted on Sunday, June 13th.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2371874076451461/

Jonah Hodkins posted a bunch of pics from this year’s Willys Spring Reunion. You can see them all on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1147017852392638&set=pcb.1147020379059052

Here are ten of them.

Steve shared these images from day two’s ‘Top of the World’ jeep trip.

Steve wrote, “On Sunday, Casey led a group of 12 vintage Jeeps and four modern iron up the Top Of The World trail. Two Jeeps had a mechanical breakdown. All the Willys with factory Jeep engines made it to the top without a problem. Breakdowns included a radiator vs. fan, and a broken steering rag joint. No one was left stranded. The group took care of each other and no one was left behind.”\

Sunrise on the last day of the event:

All lined-up for Sunday’s trail ride:

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Steve Elkins shared these pics he took at this year’s Willys Rally. He and Blaine attended the Rally for the first time. He counted over 40 Willys and a few more modern iron participating in the event, but didn’t have a head count.

He felt the Red Cliffs Lodge was the perfect venue for such large event. He wrote that the beautiful setting on the Colorado River was an oasis in the desert. The facilities were well maintained and the staff was awesome! He plans to “definitely return to this destination in the future”.

Steve noted that just about every Willys was represented, including Flatfenders, Pickups, Stations Wagons, a Parkway, and one FC. Non-Willys included wranglers and one Jeepster Commando. There was mostly modified Jeeps in attendance, but still there were an impressive representation of Jeeps equipped with an original Power Train. Those with beautiful paint jobs aren’t afraid of getting them dirty.

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Thanks go to Joe-in-Mesa for sending me one of the Willys Rally Essential Workers T-Shirt. I think this t-shirt is a pretty clever way to marry the pandemic with the old Willys workhorses (you can order one here).

This year’s Willys Rally is currently scheduled for May 14-16, 2021, in Moab, Utah. You can learn more at the Willys Rally website.

Joe-in-Mesa filed this report from last weekend’s Parker Military Vehicle Display and Swap Meet in Parker, Arizona.

The inaugural Parker event was a great time, and very relaxing. No signal to speak of at the display area and campsite along the river, so we actually just communicated with one another with no outside world interruptions. Signal was normal once you got out onto highway 95 and back at our hotel in Parker.  The highlight for me was a true “Bucket List” item: trail ride to The Desert Bar (Nellie E. Saloon) Saturday afternoon. I also enjoyed the Friday night dinner and presentation about the WWII desert training areas Patton established in that area, mostly Arizona and California.

Here is a rest stop pic of the convoy to Parker with us up front (first time towing BOTH my WWII jeeps – new truck and trailer) and my friend David Webster with his MB and trailer.

Parker, Arizona, is located along the Colorado River on the western edge of Arizona.

Below are my wife Jan and David mugging during set up day one with my jeeps sporting the awesome covers I got from Ian Liljeblad (www.bigwillyjeep.com)

Lots of vendors displayed parts and militaria.  Military Vehicles on display were mostly 1/4 ton to 3/4 ton (more than 2 dozen).

Friends’ jeeps and a mule (far left) parked for the dinner and presentation on Friday night about the WWII Desert Training Area by a Yuma Proving Ground museum curator. 

The weather was perfect. On Friday evening we enjoy this beautiful sunset over the Colorado River looking west from the La Paz County Campgrounds, Parker, Arizona.

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If you have some time, you might want to check out the Bantam BRC-40 that will be included in a made-in-Pennsylvania 5-car auto show at the Harmony Museum in Harmony, Pennsylvania. The show is scheduled to last from March 27-April 11. From the website, it looks like a pretty neat place. It looks like we have another place to visit on our next trip to Pennsylvania!

UPDATE:  This Parker, Arizona, event begins this Friday. I’m sorry I can’t be down there to support Joe and the rest of the group, as this would be a nice break from our craziness here, but if all goes well and the event is held next year, we will make an effort to be down there (then head to the final FC Roundup, assuming it’s held in March of 2022). 

(02/16/2021) Joe-in-Mesa forwarded plans for a military vehicle display and swap meet next month over the weekend of March 18-21 at La Pax County Park in Parker, Arizona. The weather should be beautiful that time of year.Here is the basic information.

A PDF version of the below application can be downloaded here:

http://www.deilers.com/MV-Campout-application.pdf

The 2021 Willys Reunion has confirmed it will take place May 21-22 in Aurora, Ohio, this year. My lovely bride and I won’t be able to make it, but hopefully we’ll be more settled in 2022 and can visit at that time. Maybe we can even bring one of our jeeps next time!

Ron’s holding an open house, a military vehicle show and sale, this year on May 23, 2021, in Central Point, Oregon.

Congrats to Dan for successfully staging the 2020 FC Jamboree. He had a good showing despite 2020’s challenges. Here are some pics from the event (and more can be seen on Facebook).

UPDATE: This weekend is the FC Jamboree. The theme is “sick” FCs; some dark humor for some these pandemic-days.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1003832893384124/

Roger Martin’s Southwest Ohio FC Gathering is taking place this weekend. He shared a few pics from yesterday.

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UPDATE **SOLD**

This might be of interest to those in the area.

Bob Christy has announced that the Spring Reunion has been pushed back to June 19-20. Depending on how COVID-19 events unfold, there may be further alterations or even outright cancellation of the event. So, stay tuned!

http://www.willysreunion.com/swr20.htm

“Due to the current COVID-19 Restrictions…

The Spring Reunion is now Re-Scheduled to June 19-20, 2020

I spoke with the hotel and they are working with minimal staff under the current restrictions put in place by the State of Ohio.

The person I spoke to (Frank) was going to move all of the room reservations to the new dates. If you cannot make it to the show on the new dates and need to cancel your room there will be no penalty.

If you have already registered for the show, your registration is still valid, so you need to do nothing.

As of right now, the show will go on as planned, however, state restrictions in place at the time of the show may force us to make decisions on:

Dinner
Guest Speaker
T shirts
outright cancellation

It’s our sincere hope that by June everything will be back to normal and we can hold the show as planned, but of course like everyone else, we will not know that for many more weeks.

On Behalf of everyone that helps to run this show, including Art, Mindy, Jpet, Scott, Kevin, Bill, and myself we wish all of you health and happiness during this time and we hope to see you all soon.