Haylie: I think.

I think her name's gonna be Phyllis.

Phyllis is a great name.

I'm Haylie Robinson.

And I'm a former fire queen full of wonder, lest I explore art, culture, community, heritage, history and more.

One festival at a time.

I invite you to join me in finding festivals.

And finding festivals Finding festivals is brought to you in part by Find some Lake Erie Love?

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Toledo.

More than you ever imagined.

Learn more at visittoledo.org.

the city of Toledo is known for many things, including manufacturing the Jeep.

There is so much pride they celebrate for an entire weekend during the Toledo Deep Fest.

Toledo is located at the western tip of Lake Erie and has been building Jeep Wrangler since 1941.

Downtown Toledo welcomes dippers from all over the country.

On the second weekend of August for the annual Jeep Fest, over 60,000 Jeep enthusiasts fled the Toledo streets in celebration before the festival begins.

I headed over to Market Street.

Every Saturday morning, local farmers, merchants and homemakers come together at the Toledo Farmers Market.

But my personal favorite part is all of the goodies to try.

So let's go check it out.

Peaches are from South Carolina and the whiskey is from Tennessee.

Tennessee whiskey.

Merchant: From Kentucky.

I think it's bitter oak respect.

Haylie: Here we go.

And there it is.

I was waiting for it.

That was very good.

So in contrast to the cherry on the tree, it was nice and sweet, but the peach was almost, like, refreshing.

Merchant: It is.

It is.

Haylie: That's what I will do the pop tart or the toasted toaster toaster, pop.

Thank you so much.

Merchant: It's been a while.

So we have sugar cookies now.

Haylie: You have sugar cookies.

Merchant: Lemon sugar cookie and a churro one.

So, like cinnamon.

Haylie: Everything I tried at the farmer's market was delicious.

I was curious just how many jeeps might be in the parade this year and made my way to the lineup.

So as you can see, there is a flood of jeeps and that's because everyone is lining up for the grand event.

The Jeep parade, which is projected to have about a thousand jeeps from all over the country.

To be honest, I don't know much about Jeep.

Aside from its impact on the city of Toledo and the involvement the product had in World War Two.

I spoke with the Toledo Assembly Complex Senior Manager Grant Robinson to learn more about Jeep and the people who make it.

Grant: Robinson: Toledo was the spiritual home of Jeep.

We've been building jeeps here for 80 years now, so it's definitely part of the community and something that I've grown up with.

Haylie: And there's a whole festival about it now.

Grant: Robinson: Absolutely.

It's wonderful to see the pride, not only in the product, but but in the community, because, believe it or not, Toledo has got more registered Jeeps than anywhere else in the entire world.

Haylie: Wow.

Okay.

That's those are some numbers.

There you go.

What vehicles are made here in the plant?

Grant: Robinson: So currently we're producing the JL Wrangler and the G80 Gladiator.

And this is the only place in the world that those vehicles are produced.

Haylie: And those are the ones that can like climb rocks.

They will.

Go anywhere.

Haylie: They will go anywhere.

So how many employees are here at this plant?

Grant: Robinson: So currently we have over 7000 employees employed here at Guido Assembly Complex.

They're members of the UAW Local 12 and we absolutely couldn't do it without them.

Without them, we wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be shipping these vehicles around the world.

So a big shout out to all the production Skilled Trades Office, clerical, MLM, all those people.

We can't do it without you and we appreciate you.

Grant: Robinson: This is Trem one and this is actually called the Rotisserie Line.

You can see the vehicles on the specialty carrier and it's rotated.

So the employees on the other side of the line can work on the top of the vehicle in an ergonomically accessible way so that they're not bending, straining, doing anything that would put them in an uncomfortable situation.

You see on this side of line, the vehicles now coming back over, rotating for these operators so that they can work on the top of the vehicle.

So it's going to come down, it's going to tell her what vehicle is coming and then be one of those little circle whites.

We're going to play right up.

She'll pick the right part, hit that button to acknowledge it and put it down.

That way, we don't put the wrong badger.

You think about all the complexity, like we build so many different variations of this vehicle and part of what makes it so popular is that it's very customizable.

So with that, you have to make sure that you put the operator in the best, the best shape to not make a mistake.

What we're on, we call this this is the flat top or Final Four at this point in time.

This is the very last point of the assembly process.

The car is fully built.

We start it for the first time and then run an electrical test on it to verify that everything's good to go.

And if there are no issues with that electrical test, we'll see the operator get in, give a victory honk and the vehicle drives off.

And at that point, the vehicle is built.

It's called quality testing before it goes out the door.

After this point right here.

Haylie; Now that we learned how Jeep is made, it's time to test it out.

This is my first time offroading in a vehicle and Grant took me out on not one, but both of the courses at the Jeep plant.

Hang on.

It's going to be a bumpy ride.

I don't think I'll ever get over just.

How far this distance.

Oof, that was so much fun.

You've never experienced a jeep.

That's the way to do it.

Next, I head to a Toledo staple that was recognized on the television show MASH.

Lindsey Bond: So Jamie Farr, who was from the Birmingham neighborhood, used to come to Pecos all the time, and then he was on the TV show MASH, and he wanted to share his Toledo love.

And so he references us in seven different episodes during the MASH seasons.

Haylie: I didn't realize it was seven.

Wow.

So it was like a nice, like, nod and wink.

Yes, absolutely.

Lindsey Bond: Yes.

He has major pride for Toledo and a lot of love for the Pecos brand.

Haylie: So I'm going to assume his name is somewhere on the wall.

Lindsey Bond: Yes, he is.

Definitely signed some buttons.

I don't know where it is now, but yes, he is.

He is here for sure.

Haylie: It's here somewhere.

Yeah.

How did that tradition start?

Lindsey Bond: So Burt Reynolds was actually here in 1972 and he was doing The Rainmaker play and he came here for dinner and he was talking to Nancy Basco and she's like, Well, we want you to sign something.

And so he grabbed a hot dog bun because he knew that that's what we were famous for.

And so he was like, I'm going to sign what you're famous for.

He signed the hot dog button and this is what we have today.

Haylie: This is the legacy he left out.

Lindsey Bond: Yes, absolutely.

Haylie: It's such a fun little thing, though, like it's a unique kind of museum that you have.

Absolutely.

Well, most attendees are securing their spot for the grand parade.

I scooped out some fun at the festival.

I'm trying to figure.

Out how to drive.

So I was like, Forward is right in, back is left.

Oh, that was a big craps.

Almost everywhere I turn, I spot a rubber duck.

Which begs the question, what's with the duck?

In addition to organizing a parade of hundreds of jeeps, Whitney Rocker oversees the entire festival and lets me in on the secret.

Whitney Rofkar: So I don't know the whole story, but I, I do know that these ducks are a love note that you leave on someone else's jeep to say, Hey, man, really cool jeep.

And the camaraderie among jeepers is amazing.

It really is like a big family.

So it's not surprise that we have a special Jeep wave, a special tradition of ducking other people's jeeps, too, saying, hey, you've got us, we jeep.

Haylie: And so that camaraderie is really unique and I've never really seen anything else like it that really and that's what I love about the Jeep first is that it truly is a community affair with the full intention of just trying to elevate the city and showcase the pride that we have.

Whitney Rofkar: That's right.

I mean, it's not just for jeepers, a lot of times I'm talking to folks and they think it's all about Jeep.

Well, I don't have a Jeep.

I don't I don't love Jeep already.

And we hope to make them a Jeep lover.

But there's something for everybody.

And hopefully by the time you leave Toledo Fest, you'll be a Jeep lover.

Haylie: As you mentioned, there's a lot of pride, a lot of people involved in this.

So that begs the question, what inspired this whole event.

Whitney Rofkar: Really the 75th anniversary of Jeep inspired the whole event.

So the 75th anniversary of Jeep came up and there were all these retirees, UAW Local 12 retirees that I understand started getting together, saying, let's do a really cool event, let's do a Jeep show.

Maybe we can have some music, maybe there's a beer garden, you know, all the elements that you see today.

But now we've turned the volume up extensive fully on what their original idea was.

And so so we all kind of joined forces and put on the first ever Toledo Jeep Fest in 2016.

And really what goes into it impacts the economy.

Over $5.6 million were spent in economic impact on restaurants like hotels, things of that nature.

So when you think about $5.6 million pumping into the economy every year, Toledo Fest is making a big mark on Toledo.

Haylie: How long does it take to organize an event of this size?

Whitney Rofkar: Yeah, so Toledo Fest is kind of a year round operation, so I start planning when this one's over two weeks later, I'll start planning for the next year.

Haylie: So you're always think even when you're probably at this event, you start thinking, Oh, what can I add next year?

Right?

Whitney Rofkar: Yes, I have a notepad with things I want to change for next year.

We're always trying to improve.

We're always trying to do better.

Haylie: Being involved with the planning.

For the past five years, I asked Whitney what her favorite memories are.

Whitney Rofkar: Well, there are two moments that I'm really that stick out in my mind.

So one moment is every year I pop my, my.

Now she's five, my five year old on my golf cart.

And I run the parade route before it starts.

And I'm telling the crowd, you know, stay back.

We've got rolling jeeps going by and I'm just kind of doing my job.

But I have my little girl on my lap and it's such a source of pride to have her be a part of things and show her what her mom can do.

So I love that.

That's a really great memory.

And then also something that I really love is at the end of every Toledo Jeep Fest, my partner in crime, Jerry Huber, and I stand in the Glass City Center and we watch everything roll out of the Glass City Center.

So we spent so much time putting it in and watching people enjoy it.

But just like that, like it was a dream.

It's all gone.

So sorry.

Haylie: Those are beautiful moments.

And I'm your daughter.

I'm sure love being on that golf cart and being like my mom is telling people what to do.

Whitney Rofkar: You know, it's so fun.

Haylie: Like now when we roll by jeeps on the road, she's always like, Jeep, and then she does the jeep wave at them.

It's so fun to see that pride pass on to her.

Haylie: Over 1000 jeeps participate in the Grand Parade from classics to decorated rides.

Jeeps keep coming down the street.

I feel like they just keep.

Coming and coming and coming.

So many jeeps.

And iconic and almost expected.

Part of the parade is jeep stacking.

I've seen this trick before many times, but always wondered how it was possible.

Corey Childs: So we supply both the front and rear axles to the Jeep Wrangler and the Gladiator, and then the offsets between the Sierra, the Rubicon, and all the different part variants that go into.

Haylie: That is your part.

The reason the Jeep can kind of do that little like wheel, I don't know if you call it high five, really drive up on the wheel and it's a. Corey Childs: Contributor, right?

So it's a complete suspension.

Haylie: How big of a crew does it take to complete.

Corey Childs: Roughly 1100 people on a seven day operation running about 340 days a year?

Haylie: That's incredible.

And like you said, I mean, that's a lot of families that you're able to impact because you're you're making this part here in Toledo, in northwest Ohio.

Yeah.

Corey Childs: From this facility standpoint and all of Dana, especially in the Toledo, we have a rich history with respect to our product and our involvement in this community for over 100 years.

This facility currently sits on the old Willys plant.

So post-World War Two, we started supplying all of the product from a Jeep drive line into the jeep, which this property sits on.

So as we see behind us, the old smokestack, right?

So it's kind of contrary to the solar field, right?

So with one energy and then within with another, it's there's a rich history at which this this property has been built on since 2017.

Haylie: As a plant manager, can you recall a specific day or even moment that just filled to the brim and was kind of that moment of, this is why I do this.

Corey Childs: It's the people.

The product becomes second in the people become great because when the people are great, then the product just comes along for the ride.

Haylie: The Glass City Center showcases jeeps, hosts a remote control course and offers scheduled lectures throughout the day.

Local historian Ted Long shares the story of women's roles in producing Jeep during World War Two.

So we have this historical jeep.

And you said prior to filming that this was built in Toledo.

Tedd Long: This is a Toledo built.

I love this just because it everything on it is looks as original as I can see.

And it's just got that look to it.

That is that iconic Jeep World War Two look to it.

Women would have had their hands in the building of this jeep because of 43 would have been that peak period where they were involved in all different aspects of the production.

Haylie: You have a really unique story when it comes to women being involved in producing the Jeep.

Tedd Long: Yeah, so they approached me like six months ago and said, Hey, do you want to be a part of the Speaker series here?

And I said, Sure.

And then I thought about it.

I'm not really a Jeep historian.

I don't know.

I mean, everyone knows the basic premise of, you know, what happened here, but I wanted to find something more rich, you know, something that had some passion, some some zeal.

And the story of women stepping up during World War Two and and helping build Jeeps.

I just thought that was a fascinating story.

Haylie: I don't disagree with you.

You know, the Rosie.

Tedd Long: The Riveter, you to.

Haylie: See my bandana.

Tedd Long: You know, I go back to the research I did a couple of years ago for my first book, Forgotten Visitors, which was a story about 20 or so people who visited Toledo over the last 200 years.

And one of those people was Blanche Scott, and she was the first woman to drive a car, actually, the second woman to drive a car from New York to San Francisco.

And she drove a Willis Overland, you know, built here in Toledo.

Overland was trying to capture this kind of interesting audience.

Women weren't buying cars at that time, but they were having a huge influence on what men were buying.

So they brought this woman, put her in this car, drove her across.

You know, she drove across country.

Less than 30 years later, women are making cars.

Haylie: But what does that look like here in Toledo, specifically with the Jeep?

Tedd Long: Well, Jeep Willis Overland, a, you know, massive, massive facility.

I mean, in a great, you know, payday of the twenties, I think they had almost 40 some percent of the payroll of Toledo.

There were 27,000 people working at the Jeep plant.

The Depression hits.

Toledo was hit really hard, harder than most anybody else in the area.

You know, you look at, I think, Ohio in general, the unemployment rate was like, I think under 40%.

Toledo was 80%.

So by 38, 39, the war in Europe is starting to really heat up.

And war production is what brings Toledo back into the fray.

So by the time of Pearl Harbor, women were working in some of the plants and different jobs.

But when all the men had to go to war, women came to the forefront and jumped right in and and held their own.

Haylie: They saved the day.

Tedd Long: Exactly.

Yeah.

Haylie: Kept the men being able to fight in the field and in keeping the country going.

Tedd Long: And, you know, it really it changed America.

It changed our culture.

When Blanche Scott drove that car across the country, women couldn't vote yet, you know.

So now in a very short amount of time, women had the vote.

Women are now driving, women are now working.

Women are working in factories, taking men's jobs.

So just imagine that flux, that change that happens in a pretty short period of time.

Haylie: So when it came to like the assembly lines, I mean, do you know about how many women made up an assembly line?

Tedd Long: The New York Times did a really good piece in 42.

At that time, there were about 300 women working at Jeep.

That number obviously increased very quickly, very rapidly over the war.

But they started off.

Women were mostly in the seamstress area because they thought, okay, they can handle the sewing.

And then very quickly they realized they needed to get them in other areas.

And so they were they were handling all kinds of different jobs.

Haylie: Did they exclusively make jeeps or were they making other products?

Tedd Long: they were involved in all kinds of things.

And that's one of the interesting things that I learned.

I wasn't aware of just how much the folks here were making at the Jeep plant.

And what we know is the Jeep plant today at over 155 millimeter shells, parts for the Corsair aircraft, obviously trailers for the Jeeps and all kinds of other military products.

And the women were involved in all of that.

And so some of those interviews they talked about, the aircraft area was really there.

All of them were interested in that because they just thought it was cool.

They're working on this on this airplane.

Haylie: That is so cool.

I mean, to think like one day you're at home with the kids, your husband gets shipped off, you're like, what's what am I going to do?

And then, you know, before you know what you're voting, you're making an aircraft.

I mean, wow, that is one heck of a dress.

Tedd Long: That's pretty cool.

Haylie: We learned that Jeep is made possible by the men and women of UAW Local 12.

And I wanted to get to know them better.

I spoke with a charitable group, Women's Local 12 Committee, about their philanthropic efforts in Toledo.

I saw over here you have a raffle table and there's a lot of fun goodies, but where are the proceeds go?

Well, pretty much it helps us.

When we go do things with like for the community.

Community like we use our own money to donate.

Yes.

Because that comes from our community.

So every time we do anything, it comes from our money that we when we do things like that, do fundraisers and stuff like that, we also we donate school supplies.

So we may pick a charity school supplies.

It just depends.

At the next meeting we'll pick.

So by buying a ticket, you're ultimately helping one of the organizations that you stand behind and contribute to.

So I have more of a reason to put my name in for the wine basket, is what I'm hearing.

Yes.

Yes, definitely.

What do you love most about being part of the UAW local 12?

I mean, it's it's a big family, really, right?

For me, it's our unity.

We're all brothers and sisters.

We all stand behind each other at the end of the day, you know, just like with a family, you might have little bickering moments where you don't see eye to eye.

But when it comes to an issue within helping our community, we all we're all united.

Yes, we are.

We're all elbow to elbow.

Yes, we are women.

We can do it.

We can.

We all do it.

Yes.

We do.

The Rose, the Riveter, Rosie.

Of course, I had to check out the kid zone.

So it's like one big bubble, one in here.

So we're going to try to make some bubbles.

Okay.

Dipped it.

That's pretty cool.

But.

Wow.

Okay, you all right?

Lucky ducks.

All right.

Yes, yes, yes.

Okay.

Ducks.

All right.

So I just.

I just pick one out.

You're just going to pick a duck?

Hold on to your favorite duck and hold on to mean.

Okay, there's a lot of options here.

There's so many choices and choices.

And our pressure this.

Okay I'll go with the screen duck and let me see on the bottom of here in red which means you get to choose something from that side of the table.

Thank you.

So awesome.

Jeep is more than a product.

It's a community.

And who better to speak about it than a self-proclaimed keeper?

We are looking at all of these ducks and you're blowing up some of them.

So you like a duck blow rubber.

I am especially the duck, the blower up here today.

I am here with Jeep and gypsies and we represent the Michigan Jeep Babes.

It's a michigan Jeep club and we like to bring our duck plucking duck pond to events to help raise money for Haven of Oakland County in Michigan.

Now, now you identify as a keeper.

Yes, yes.

Can you unpack that a little bit?

How do you get into all these clubs?

I have had 32 Jeeps over the years and we have done offroading events, always raising money for some kind of a charity over the years.

And the Michigan Jeep names are all girls who build and maintain and we own their own Jeep swag.

Oh, I love Michigan Jeep.

Yes.

Yes, I do.

I got a duck and a hat or two.

Awesome.

I'm ready to work for you guys.

What's our first job?

Whatever you want.

Well, we got gas leaks all over.

Okay, let's go.

Let's go help people right now.

Let's do it.

This is a nice backdrop.

Just got it.

You just got to hold it out like this, and that's how you do it.

Okay, good job.

Thank Deep is also a family affair.

I met with more.

Jeepers, who have made Jeep part of their family traditions.

All right, we got Brutus and Highjack behind us.

Yes.

Okay.

Where did those names come from?

So we're huge Buckeye fans.

Okay, so obviously Brutus, the Buckeye, right?

So it's kind of got that tanned center of the Buckeye look and then hijack.

It's just lifted, jacked up a little bit.

And so we took a play off of that word and spelled it different.

So just fun.

I love it.

So and that's kind of common for everyone.

Everyone kind of names their their teeth.

You walk around you often see a lot of people that have names on their jeep.

Now you're part of the Glass City Crawlers.

Can you unpack that?

When did this group start?

So this was started back in 2016 with the original founding members, and then it began to grow exponentially as these really mean.

Jeeps are born here every day in the Glass City.

So the group is family oriented and community oriented as well.

And that's why it's grown so much over the last couple of years.

Really great leadership.

And it's a family friendly environment where it's not just Jeeps, but jeeps are the primary vehicle and there's different groups inside, whether they're mall crawlers or parade goers or off roaders, it takes everybody in and it's the jeep that brings them together.

Jeep fest goes far beyond a weekend celebration, and it's rooted in its history, community and culture.

Pride, grit and durability are few words that come to mind when I think of the hardworking people who have helped make Jeep in Toledo over the years, I look forward to the next festival.

We find you can visit finding festivals dot com to learn more about the series, get updates through the digital newsletter and connect with me on social media where you can access more content on festival fun, right?

Bob Is it like conveyor belt out?

And then from when this book dries up and I am going to ask one more question, it's like I forgot where.

That's a that's a great question.

It's a lot of questions.

It is so.

So, you know, we're kind of going to travel back here.

What is this.

Environment?

And it wasn't just me.

I'm not just losing my mind.

Finding festivals is brought to you in part by Find some Lake Erie Love?

It's a SHORE thing!

Learn how at SHORESandISLANDS.com and start an adventure today.

Toledo.

More than you ever imagined.

Learn more at visittoledo.org.