By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer
Have Jeep. Will travel. And it’s all for a great cause.
A local Jeep group will be taking part in a national Jeep fundraiser event, March 9, as part of the Mr. Vanderquack Mov’n for St. Jude. The national event will have seen hundreds, if not thousands of Jeep owners take to the open roads to raise awareness and money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As of March 1, the national fundraiser had collected approximately $91,400 of its $100,000 goal.
Trish Kern, of Lawrence, a member of the Paw Paw River Jeep Club, based in Coloma, is serving as one of the state’s leg leaders as the convoy makes its way through Michigan, including a trip to the state’s Upper Peninsula. She will meet the group as it makes a stop in Mattawan, enroute to St. Joseph. Kern said, “Timing is fluid right now. We are estimating my leg starting on March 9. Kern said she will meet up with Cassie Scramlin, the Michigan event coordinator, at Mattawan, then lead the convoy to St. Joseph. There, Kern will meet up with fellow Paw Paw River Jeep Club member Theresa Bohle, who will take the convoy to Elkhart, IN, the 49th of 50 states. After Elkhart, the convoy’s travels will take it to Fort Wayne and other Indiana cities, before reaching its final state, Illinois. Bohle said arrangements were even made in Hawaii and Alaska for Mr.Vanderquack to travel. The national event kicked off in St. Louis, MO.
Bohle said that inside Mr. Vanderquack, a 20-inch plush duck, is a tracker which makes it possible to track him through GPS. The duck also has a GPS charger, plus a travel passport for everyone to record the city and Jeep name who participates in moving him across the country.
Bohle said Jeep clubs across the country began sharing Lisa Unverzagt’s dream to make this event happen and began volunteering. “One of our members, Rebecca Shagonaby signed us up for this Southwest Michigan leg. Once Mr. Vanderquack returns to Unverzagt, he will be put up for auction or raffled, to bring additional funds for St. Jude. Unverzagt said in a Facebook post, “I think it would be a great testimony of the strength and magnitude of the Jeep culture.”
Bohle said the local Jeep club began after she had had a conversation with fellow Jeep Club member, Brian Smith, who noted there were no local Jeep clubs. Smith told Bohle that he if he created a Facebook page, would she join him. “The Jeeping community is huge. We thought how fun it would be if we got 50 Jeep friends to get together with. We now have 1,100 members online and a good 100 ‘active members,’” said Bohle.
