On Saturday, 13 August 2016, Bob Christy took his 1953 CJ-3B over to Toledo from his home in Green, Ohio, where he is also starting preparations for the 2016 Northern Ohio Flatfender Cruise-In on 11 September. He was headed for the first annual Toledo Jeep Fest.
![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/ChristyTrailer400.jpg) Bob had the 3B loaded on the trailer on Friday. His Jeep had been featured in the Toledo Blade in the week leading up to Jeep Fest.
| ![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Christy3B400.jpg) Organizers wanted the classic Jeep display in place in the SeaGate Center in downtown Toledo on Friday, and Bob found his spot.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Surreys820.jpg) A number of the vehicles from the Omix-ADA Jeep Collection had been brought up from Georgia, and the Omix-ADA blue Surrey was joined by Ron Szymanski's 1960 Surrey from Toledo and Michael Wierda's Pepsi Surrey from Michigan. The Pepsi Surreys are unique for their yellow striped upholstery.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Military400.jpg) A collection of military Jeeps in the middle of the convention center was joined by the recent Wrangler Salute concept from Fiat/Chrysler/Jeep.
| ![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/PinkPanther400.jpg) Pink on pink! The Pink Panther, licensed by Owens Corning, has become almost as much a symbol of Toledo as the Jeep itself.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Ceremony820.jpg) Saturday morning the crowd showed up. With showers off and on, many of the people headed downtown for the 11:00 Jeep parade came inside the SeaGate Center for the displays and the opening ceremony, seen here.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/NorrisBanonis400.jpg) Bill Norris of the Norris-Banonis Group was on hand with his CJ-2A and a display promoting the Holy Toledo! calendar and the latest issue of The Dispatcher.
| ![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Richfield2A400.jpg) This early CJ-2A Fire Engine is a 1945 with column shift. It was bought by Richfield Township near Toledo in 1947 for $1,100, and was in service until 2007.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/ToledoFirefighters400.jpg) The Toledo Firefighters Museum has preserved this FC-170 Howe fire truck, which was one of three owned by Libbey-Owens-Ford glass company. See more details in Howe Jeep FC Fire Engines on CJ3B.info.
| ![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/NewRichmondFD400.jpg) And a cool surprise to round out the firefighting Jeep display was a CJ-5 brushfire conversion from New Richmond.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Jeepster400.jpg) Meanwhile, among the Jeeps arriving for the parade outside, was the perfect vehicle for the Fire Chief who wants to get there fast -- a 1948 Jeepster with a V-8 (250K JPEG).
| ![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/NoParking400.jpg) With an estimated 40,000 people on hand for the parade, space on the street and the sidewalk was hard to find.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Parade2A400.jpg) The original plan was to line the Jeeps up in chronological order from oldest to newest, but with over 800 vehicles registered, the organizers gave up on that idea.
| ![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Colors400.jpg) But military Jeeps were at the head of the parade.
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![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/ParadeWagon400.jpg) The parade route started right in front of Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mud Hens.
| ![](../Photos/Toledo/Jeepfest2016/Orange3B400.jpg) Bob got a shot of this built-up CJ-3B with a V-6 -- anybody know who owns this?
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The only other high hood Bob spotted at the event was a Mitsubishi -- maybe Emmett Lodge's J53 which I saw in June at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival?
Thanks to Bob for the photos. Sounds like Jeep Fest was pretty good for a first annual, and I hope it returns next year. Bob thinks it could be a two-day event. -- Derek Redmond