by Chris Bova They started rolling in Thursday night, driving in from as far away as Pennsylvania. (pic 1)They were the women who came together for the first Wheeling Women’s Weekend event hosted the JeepGirlClub. They parked their jeeps for the night, anxiously waiting the next day’s activities. Everyone sat around the campfire Thursday night listening to President George Bush's September 11th tragedy speech. After the speech, some called it a night, and others decided to stick around to play "Jeep Bingo". This was a game that had prizes awarded to the people that yelled out "JEEPS" instead of "Bingo". Hats from Tennessee Off Road, coolie cups from Superlift, Plexus soft-top window cleaner, "MudGirl" shirts from Difficult Trail were given to the winners of this game.
Friday morning the jeepers arrived at the Badlands Off-Road Park in Attica, IN. Everyone registered, aired down, and disconnected (pic 2) in time for the daily driver's meeting. (Pic 3)The trails participants ran that day were green, which had 6 attendees and orange, which had 7( pic 4). Both groups had some drivers that had never been off road driving before. One of the girls had just learned how to drive a manual transmission and it was her second time behind the wheel of that jeep. The other had only been behind the wheel of a vehicle twice before this event. She was in the process of learning how to drive on the road so her father brought her out so she can learn to drive their jeep off road as well. (pic 5)
We were impressed with both of these women in their ability to handle any obstacle that got in their way. Our hats off to go Kimmie and Michelle, good job! The morning trail rides ended in time for everyone to get lunch before the afternoon trail rides began. These next sets of trails that were offered to the participants were white and orange. Again everyone did exceptionally well all day, even the new off roaders; no major breakage or carnage to report.
Friday night back at the Summer Carroll campgrounds the attendees ate dinner, cleaned up, and took care of any issues with their vehicles and talked about that day’s adventures. Some gathered around the April Alliston’s (organizer of this event) campsite to watch videos of the day’s rides provided by John Combs of Flash production.(pic 6) Some went up to visit Todd and Dan from Tennessee Off Road who stayed with us in the campground. These guys provided beverages for our event, and we were so grateful. They provided some entertainment as well as lessons in how to use their on-board welder. (pic 7)
Saturday morning everyone attended the driver’s meeting back at the park. Some were a little slower than others due to the previous night’s celebrations. Before we let them head out, all the JeepGirls were gathered in one section of the park for a group photograph. (pic 8) Our on staff photographer, Greg Heins, and some others were excited about trying to get all the jeeps and their drivers in one shot. There were few more participants signed in at registration for morning trail runs, which were green, orange and pink. (pic 9) All the jeeps were off onto the trails, including Lisa Myers co-owners of Badlands.
JeepGirls were trying to get the best score for one of the trophies to be given out (pic 10) at the awards ceremony. Again there was enough time for the participants to get some food or take care of things needed before the afternoon trails which were again orange and white. The participants were given the opportunity to upgrade their afternoon trails if they wanted more of a challenge. The only major carnage for entire event was a broken Dana 60 axle shaft. There were a few minor injuries like a busted taillight and scratches. When the trail rides were finished, everyone headed out to Summer’s Carroll campground for the evening’s commencements.
Fountain County Ambulance Service staffed by great people provided a wonderful BBQ dinner. After dinner the jeepers gathered around the April Alliston’s tent (pic 11) for the award ceremony and the raffle. Something everyone was looking forward too. The JeepGirlClub and 22 most generous vendors provided the raffle prizes. April called all the trail leaders and tail gunners up for a thank you gifts and round of applause for a job well done.
Trophies were passed out to Jill "Jeepnjill" Engel for the "Muddiest Jeep" (pic 12). She also received a gag gift of a roll of quarters, a rain suit and goggles just in case she ever decided to wash her jeep. The award for the "Cleanest Jeep" went to Heather "Mudchik" Anthony. She also received a car bluffer to make sure her Jeep stayed that way. Mary Svoboda, who was nominated by one of the other participants, won the "Biggest Jeep Fan" trophy and prize. This was a hard award to give out because everyone was wearing all of their jeep gear throughout the weekend. The "Best Flex" award went to Kimberly Moyer , and "Best Prepared" to Elizabeth Booth. Mel West won the award for "Fastest Soft Top Assembly" in the CJ category.
Everyone anxiously waited the calling of the raffle ticket numbers. They wanted to winn prizes that included a $250 gift certificate to Klune-V, 1 night free stay at Tellico Cabin Rentals. A roll cage, hats and Entry fee paid into TOR Off-Road Challenge 2002 from Tennessee Off Road were given. County Chrysler , who also joined us, donated tow hooks and antenna mount for the raffle. Tow strap, license plate frames and some other prizes from 4x4 Connection.
A gift certificate and some hats from Premier Power Welder. Sweatshirts, Master-Pull gear bags and a Jeep Hat from Adventure 4wd, Hand throttles and t-shirts from Rubicon Express, a TJ steering box skid plate from Skid Row Automotive, a Hot Wheels Mechanix Jeep toy, IPF 960 Super Rally Off Road Lights from Stage West, entry fees paid for by Sports in the Rough to some of their up and coming events, Koozie cups, underwear (yes, underwear) and t-shirts from Superlift. Gift Certificates from Bayou Geeps, $150 toward any TrailReady product, T-shirts from A.H. Off-Road.com. $100 in gift certificates from Quadratec.
MudGirl Apparel from Difficult Trail. Cups and Tuffy Apparel from Tuffy Security Products. A free Radiator from Radiator.com. Stickers from Graphic Image. Koozie cups, and apparel from Dirt Divas. Half of the money collected for the raffle tickets went to the Blue Ribbon Coalition, which totaled $200. After the trophies were awarded and prizes were gone, some people hung around the campsite to socialize, some left to call it a night.
The Sunday morning drivers meeting was short, and we got on the trails pretty fast. Everyone that was able to stay for one last trail ran a mixture of orange and white. Some jeeps found exits on the trail and made an early departure for home. Maggie DeSaeger attempted to climb rock face a couple of times (pic 13), but then opted to stop before breaking anything. Her jeep, like many others has to get her home.
All the JeepGirls left Badlands and the Wheeling Women’s Weekend with good memories and new friendships to take with them. (pic 14) All, with safety in mind, had fun. The weekend was a huge success and everyone is looking forward to doing it again next year.
Edited by: April Alliston
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