A whole heap of Jeeps headed to Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER − Jeeps, Jeeps everywhere.

That's what you'll see Saturday at the first Bridgewater River Jeepin' Jubilee.

Portions of both Riverside Drive and Bridge Street will be closed, as 100 or so registered Jeeps, and their owners, gather for a celebration open to everyone. If you have a Jeep, or are simply intrigued by those American-crafted vehicles, "then come down, and hang out," event spokesman Tim Birge said.

Napleton Ellwood City Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram will showcase its new Jeep models.

Jeep drivers can participate in Jeep games, like the teeter-totter that tests balance, an RTI Ramp measuring a vehicle's ability to flex its suspension on three wheels, and obstacle climbs.

Bridgewater River Jeepin' Jubilee is a combination car show and festival, Birge said, noting there will be bands (Burnin' Boxes will headline, with Blind Colours and Bad Intentions also playing full sets), beer vendors, including Full Pint Brewing of Warrendale, and food vendors such as Fat Cat Catering with its award-winning mac & cheese.

Other food vendors include Gyro Joe, Ambridge Italian Villa, Vinny’s Pizza and Restaurant, Al’s Pizza, and Red Eye Rosie’s, with cofffee, tea, lemonade, frappes, muffins and cookies.

"And we have the Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department selling Miller Lite at the fire station," Nick Engle ofBridgewater River Jeepin Jubilee said.

Dirty Beaver Jeepers, a local Jeep enthusiasts’ group, will host the jubilee, in cooperation with Bridgewater Borough and the Bridgewater Fire Department.

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Borough officials "reached out to us to ask if we would be interested in teaming up to try and have a new mid-summer event, with a different crowd for something we don’t have around here," Engle said.

It will be a committed crowd of Jeep enthusiasts.

"Jeep is a lifestyle," Birge, who's owned a Jeep for seven years, said. "Once you get one, you love it."

Yes, there's a special Jeep wave that owners do when they spot another Jeep on the road.

"You got to do the Jeep wave," Birge said.

He's heard first-time Jeep buyers say they wouldn't make a big deal about owning that brand.

"But then pretty soon, they'll start buying accessories and bigger tires and lift kits and then they're off in the woods having fun with them," Birge said.

"Jeep owners make up people from every walk of life, lawyers and doctors to construction workers and truck drivers," Engle said. "We all fit together and come together for many things surrounding Jeeps. Some just like shows and driving to work ‘naked’ from time to time, and others of us love to go off-roading, camping and exploring. It’s an odd assembly of folks for sure, but our Jeeps bring us together for events like this."

And, of course, there's regional history.

The American Bantam Jeep Co. of Butler produced the first 2,675 jeeps that evolved into the famed World War II U.S. Army Jeeps.

Butler County has celebrated that tie-in with an annual Bantam Jeep Festival that in 2018, drew more than 2,000 Jeep owners from 28 states and Canada to Coopers Lake Campground near Slippery Rock. The Bantam Jeep Festival began in 2011 with just over 1,000 Jeeps, and in its fifth year, set a Guinness World Record when 2,420 Jeeps paraded through downtown Butler.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: A whole heap of Jeeps headed to Bridgewater