Inaugural event

Melissa Elliott, who took over as the Jay County Fairgrounds office manager this spring, and her husband have a Jeep.

Several fair board members enjoy Jeeps.

That led to a thought:

“Let’s have a Jeep show.”

The latest in new events added at Jay County Fairgrounds launches this weekend with the inaugural Jeeps at Jay County event from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday. The event will also serve as the kick-off for the corn maze, which had its inaugural year in 2022, and include a chili cook-off and free chili dinner.

The event will include a variety of contests for Jeeps, including awards for categories such as oldest and most modified. Awards will be presented about 3:45 p.m.

There will also be a “flex” contest for the vehicles. Fair board members set up a flex ramp over the weekend to measure the “maximum axle/wheel articulation at the four corners of the vehicle.”

As of Monday, 50 Jeeps had been signed up to take part in the various competitions. But Elliott is preparing for many more, having shared information about the event to at least 50 Jeep groups in the Midwest.

“We’re expecting hundreds,” said Elliott, who has a 1994 Jeep Wrangler. “I know there’s a group coming from Georgia. They travel and do all kinds of Jeep events. …

“It’s kind of like Harleys. Jeeps do rides for charities. There are Jeep groups all over the state of Indiana, and every other state for that matter. They’ll do charity runs. They’ll do Jeep events.”

In addition to the individuals who have their Jeeps on display, event co-sponsor Glass Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram will have some of its vehicles on hand as well. (Staff from the Dunkirk dealership will judge the contests.)

Portland’s Museum of the Soldier will also bring its military Jeeps for the event.

Jeeps at Jay County will also feature a DJ in the afternoon and a live concert with Radio Replay in the Farmers Building in the evening, a chili cook-off, a beer garden operated by the fair board, a giant beer pong game (it is made with 35-gallon trash cans) and vendors outdoors and in the Bubp Building.

A community chili dinner — there is no charge, but free-will donations will be accepted — will be held from 4 to 7 p.m.

The corn maze — this year’s design is farmer based, with the phrase “God made a farmer,” a barn and the face of a farmer cut in the corn field on the north side of the fairgrounds — will be open from 4 to 9 p.m. (The corn maze will also be open from 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 7, 4 to 9 p.m. Oct. 14, 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 21 and 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 28.)

There will be a $5 admission fee at the gate. It includes all of the activities that will be available at the fairgrounds throughout the day. (All proceeds from the Jeep event will going toward the effort to renovate Floral Hall, the round barn at the fairgrounds.)

“It’s not just for Jeep people,” said Elliott. “That’s why we made so many other things to do. …

“It’s a community day. It’s a day for people to come out and just enjoy the fairgrounds again … We’re looking forward to having a big crowd.”