From April 19th through Dec 30 the Walter P. Chrysler Museum at One Chrysler Drive, Auburn Hills, MI, will be holding a special “70 years of Jeep” exhibit, which includes a special display of a Willys MA.  Personally, it is slightly frustrating that the officials holding these ‘jeep’ anniversaries don’t recognize this as the 71st year (1940 was the actual delivery date of the first jeeps) rather than the 70th year, but it seems since they are sponsoring the events, they are framing history in their own way.

This Sunday is the annual Moonshiner’s Jeep Club Swap Meet.  It will be held Sunday, March 13th 2011 at the Western Washington Fairgrounds, as usual.   The event takes place from 9am – 4pm.

The swapmeet is open to the general public.  Admission is $10, though children under 12 are free.  You can learn more at the Moonshiner’s website.

Today I was invited to participate in an interview on 11/12/11 with the History Czar, Paul Bruno, whose efforts to make a movie about the history of the Bantam I discussed here.  The Czar broadcasts via the internet with all interviews available as podcasts.  At his website you’ll note that the Czar’s subject matter covers a wide range of history topics.  You can also follow updates via his WordPress blog, including his book giveaway contest.

From the website, “The History Czar is an educational service providing history information in an entertaining way and with a servant’s heart. The program is intended to present history in a format that is fun for the listeners, guests, and the hosts.”

Wish me luck!

HOG alerted me to the Kaiser Willys Photo contest.  The deadline has been extended to January 15, 2011.  If they select your photo for the cover of their catalog, you’ll receive $500 Gift Certificate.  You can learn more here.

Pete (from the Old Willys Forum) forwarded a letter from Casey announcing the 2nd Annual Willys Truck and Wagon Rally in Moab on May 14 & 15, 2011.

If you have never been to Moab or Southern Utah, it truly is a treat.  I lived in Utah for 9 years and traveled down to Southern Utah every chance I got, though never had a jeep during my time there.  So, I had to explore on foot or by bike.   There are still places I want to explore down there (For example, I have yet to hike the subway in Zion NP or the Wave in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness at the border of Utah and Arizona)

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Hello all,

Were doing it again!  The 2nd annual Willys Rally will be held in Moab UT on May 14th-15th.  You will find the Flyer attached.  This year WILL be bigger and more exciting.  I learned alot last year and cant wait to do it again on a much larger scale.  We have plans for T-Shirts with a variation of the print on the flyer.  It should turn out to be a keeper.

Please save the date and send your RSVP’s via e-mail to caseydimmitt@yahoo.com Please include # of people, Names (including screen names), e-mail, telephone #, Address, Year/ model Willys, Also specify Mens size or Womens size and how many of each you would like.

The Plan with the shirts is to finalize the design and then get pricing based on the based on your interest.  At that point I will let yall know how much they will be and put the order in for the shirts . I’ll order as many as I can get orders from from you folks before I leave for the event.  There wont be shirts to buy at the event and you must come to Moab to get them!  Please let me know what you think of the graphic.

I plan on being there for a full week this time to see all Moab has to offer.  Not sure if it will be the week prior or after the event…We may camp, we may hotel it.  Who knows??? I’ll keep you posted for those that want to make it more than a 2.5 day event that it was last year.

Thanks

Casey Dimmitt
714-478-1867
Thanks to Pete from oldwillysforum.com for making our flyer and t-shirt design!

P.S. If your a vendor or someone that can help spread the word, please do!  If you would like to be a sponsor and possibly get your name on the shirt and other ads pleas contact me.

I received the following information from the Bantam Heritage Festival folks today:

If you are in the LA area, this might be fun.

“I would like to invite everyone to the seventh annual Wrightwood Jeep and Willys Day event that will be held on Saturday, October 9, 2010 in the beautiful mountain town of Wrightwood, California from 9:00am to 4:00pm.
This event is completely FREE and a great time for all.

They close down the main street through town and from approximately 9am until 2pm all the Jeeps and Willys fill the street almost like a car show but more of a meet and greet. Then, at around 2pm everyone takes a parade style run somewhere in the local mountains, returning to town by around 4pm. (Exact destination of the run, not yet determined). Parking in the participation area is reserved for any Jeep or Willys vehicle. However, there is plenty of parking for others and all spectators are welcome!”

Bob pointed out that the Tri County 4×4 folks are having a swapmeet at the tri-county Fairgrounds in Lisbon, Oh.

“1st Annual  4wheel drive & atv Swap meet; Sat Oct 16; 7:00am to 7:00 pm
Something For Everyone; all types of parts and accessories for 4 wheel drives and atv’s; Set up & camping for Vendors available friday from 5pm to 9pm.

For More Information Contact Dave @ 330-941-9376”

http://www.tricounty4x4.com/event.htm (scroll to bottom of page)

Don’t forget, this weekend Bob will be having a Flatfender event at his house!

Bob writes, “We’re having a Flatfender Jeep show at my house near Akron, Ohio on Sept 26th. We’d like to have maybe 20-25 jeeps. We’ll provide lunch, have a nice show, maybe some swap meet type things. Here’s a flyer for it. You can post my e-mail address or have people leave comments in the comment section and I’ll provide the location. I live in Green, Ohio, near the A/C airport. I have plenty of room for Jeeps and even trailers if people want to haul to it.”

Dave (Hog) wanted me to mention Ocean City’s Jeep Week, happening Aug 26 – 29, 2010.  You can check out the website for more information.

“Hosted by The Commander Hotel and sponsored by a group of local businesses who all want to welcome the ‘Jeep Community’ to our wonderful town. This is the first year for our event and we hope to see it grow year after year. The Ocean City area lends itself to a number of interesting and enjoyable activities. It is our hope that Ocean City Jeep Week will become just one more of the great events here every year.”