Eighty-five years after the first Jeep was born in a Butler garage, its descendants return in force, not to fight, but to celebrate a hometown legacy that changed the world.

Jeep enthusiasts, prepare — the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival will kick off with its annual Jeep Invasion of Butler on Friday, June 13, at 6 p.m.

According to festival director Patti Jo Lambert, this year’s invasion will be a little different from years prior. In 2024, the festival experimented with a new staging procedure, which had Jeep owners gathering at two locations on either end of Main Street.

“We have two staging areas where we have Jeeps coming onto Main Street to park from two directions. This helps reduce congestion problems and maintains organization,” Lambert said.

This new procedure helps keep the Jeeps outside of town until given the green light to move in.

The Butler Flea Market and the Sons of the American Legion both served as the staging grounds in 2024, something Lambert said brought about rave reviews from the Jeep owners and festival volunteers.

“We listen to our participants and volunteers, and we take that feedback and try and work on things they feel didn’t quite work right,” Lambert said, referring to traffic congestion concerns from previous years.

With these two staging areas, Jeeps will be released in small groups at a time to make their way to Main Street, where they will be parked for the event.

Jack Hutchinson, a member of the Sons of the American Legion, said that besides a few hiccups, staging vehicles in their parking lot was a success.

“I think it was great. The feedback I received from Patti was that the drivers of the Jeeps were happy with it too,” Hutchinson said.

Fifteen to 20 Legion members volunteered to help admit, organize and release the Jeeps to make their way to Main Street.

According to Hutchinson, the Legion managed all of this while their post and bar were both still open for members. This led to some difficulty when it came to members having access to the parking lot, something the Legion has tweaked for this year.

“We are going to line them up a little differently this year, concentrating more on getting people into the parking lot, changing the direction in which we are having them park, allowing them to be closer to the exit,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson believes one of the reasons the new staging system is such a success is because it allows the Jeep drivers a place to get out of their cars and stretch their legs.

“Some of these drivers come a long way to take part in this festival, so having them staged somewhere rather than just lined up allows them to get out their Jeeps, talk with other drivers and move around a bit,” Hutchinson said.

This year, the Legion will have food and drink — including meatball and hot sausage sandwiches — for the drivers while they wait to be staged. There will be other opportunities as well.

“We do a 50/50 raffle, and last year, the winner was one of the Jeep drivers who took home nearly $400,” Hutchinson said.

Being host to a staging area has other benefits as well. Hutchinson said several Jeep drivers decided to join the Legion after getting to know several of the volunteers during last year’s trial run.

For Adam Piper, owner of the Butler Flea Market, becoming a staging area has become a family affair.

“We had aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews all pitching in to help (line up and organize Jeeps),” Piper said.

Piper and his wife, Jamie, bought the Butler Flea Market three years ago, after searching for a new home for their shop, Cloud 9 Vapor.

According to Piper, the size of the market’s parking lot piqued the interest of Lambert, who contacted him last year about being host to a staging location.

“Patti reached out to us to see if we could help,” Piper said. “We have a very large underutilized parking lot that is able to accommodate the amount of Jeeps they needed to stage.”

Last year’s trial run went very well, said Piper, who intends for this year to go even smoother now that they’ve done it before.

Piper recognizes that Lambert and festival staff have a large task at hand when it comes to parking so many Jeeps in downtown Butler.

“The moving parts of that whole system is a lot on their end, so any way we can take some of the weight off their shoulders, we’re happy to help,” Piper said.

As for Lambert, all of this wouldn’t be possible without the sheer amount of work so many put into the event.

“We have over 500 volunteers that help make Bantam happen,” Lambert said. “They work hard because everyone has the same goal, to make Bantam the best experience it can be for all those attending.”

Volunteers include the Rodfathers, a local car club that organizes car cruises and fundraising events for charitable organizations, and have been parking the Jeeps on Main Street since the first festival in 2011.

While Lambert has officially held the role of festival director since 2011, this is actually her 16th year working on the event.

“I have to laugh — I have been the festival director since before there was a festival,” she said.

Lambert began working on the first Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival in 2009 while still working for the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.

Fourteen years as a director may be a long time, but rest assured, Lambert said she has no intentions of retiring anytime soon.

“I’m very passionate about what I do,” she said. “I mean, what other car allows you to customize it in the way you can a Jeep.”