Proud Jeep owners lined the streets flanking Port Dover’s Powell Park on Saturday with vehicles, each as unique as their drivers.
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“I wanted a Jeep my whole life and when I got it, I knew,” said Lisa Baker, a member of the Brantford Area Jeep and Offroad Club, an organizer of Saturday’s Port Dover Jeep Invasion, and a Jeep owner for just a few years.
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What Baker said she understood when she got behind the wheel of her Jeep was the appeal of the iconic vehicle. Owning a Jeep is about more than the car itself. It symbolizes an adventurous spirit and promises the freedom to get off the beaten path and explore.
“You can take off the roof and the doors and go cruising,” said Baker. “We go places no one else can go – off-roading and rock crawling.”
Kristin Shiplo had just purchased her third Jeep when she decided a club was needed in Brantford for fellow owners crazy about their vehicles. She helped found the Brantford Area Jeep and Offroad Club in 2020. The group’s Facebook page has 1,900 members.
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Dan Walker of Waterford brought his 2017 Willys Jeep to Saturday’s event. He uses it as a company vehicle for his landscaping and interior cleaning businesses, “so the girls can show up in style.”
Like many Jeep owners, Walker has made the vehicle his own by changing out the fenders, tires, bumpers and grill, and adding a light bar above the windshield that “let’s you see into next Thursday.”
“I like the freedom,” said Walker. “You can drive around and stick your foot out the door. And there’s a lot of room in there.”
Shiplo bought her first Jeep when she was in her mid-20s because she “wanted to go play in the mud.” She currently owns a 2005 fully restored Jeep Wrangler TJ. The modifications, she said, never end.
“I couldn’t bring it today because it’s in the shop. It’s expensive but if you’re a Jeeper, you’re a Jeeper for life and you don’t care.”
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Baker has outfitted her 2019 JLU Wrangler with a 21/2-inch suspension lift, aftermarket bumpers and fenders and 37-inch tires.
“We use it to climb over rocks on trails in Haliburton,” she said. “We’ve climbed a 30-degree grade of rock face. It’s amazing what Jeeps can do.”
The Brantford club also supports the community. On Saturday, July 27, it will host its annual show and shine event at the Paris Fairgrounds in support of local charities.
New club members are always welcome. Shiplo said about half of the members are women and many members don’t own their own Jeep.
“We have amazing support. We welcome everyone. We’re a family.”
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