Attention Nevadans: Just like the lyrics to the 1978 song, it “Looks like we got us a convoy!”
That’s right, a convoy of military vehicles traveling the historic Jefferson Highway route, will be coming through Nevada in October, according to organizers John Varner and Charles “Chuck” Toney.
“We will be stopping for lunch in Nevada on Wednesday, Oct. 9,” Toney confirmed.
Some residents may remember that this same group of military vehicles, the MVPA (Military Vehicle Preservation Association) Convoy, traveled the Lincoln Highway and came through Nevada during the 2019 Lincoln Highway Days celebration (as pictured above). The timing was purely coincidental, but because they were coming through town, they joined in the Lincoln Highway Days parade that year, making it even bigger than usual.
“This is our 7th transcontinental convoy, and the first along the Jefferson Highway,” Varner said. Along with the Lincoln Highway, which the group has traveled twice, other highways include the BankHead Highway, the Alaska Highway, Route 66, the Yellowstone Highway, and the NW Pacific Highway in 2022 (which was not a transcontinental trip).
The convoy coming through Nevada this October will be traveling from the US border with Canada to New Orleans to celebrate and boost the original Jefferson Highway National Route. Varner and Toney expect 35 to 45 historic military vehicles and 85 to 100 people to be part of it.
“Stopping in small towns and meeting fellow Americans in order to display our historical military vehicles and to honor all veterans,” Toney said, are the things participants enjoy most. “One does not really know and understand our great country until one drives around 30 mph down historic backroads, where you can hear the cows ‘moo’ and the children laugh, and meet every-day Americans in their hometowns.”
Varner and Toney hope Nevada residents will take time to visit with them in front of City Hall as they pass through the community. To talk with members of the convoy, Varner said, is to “learn that we’re ALL Americans interested in keeping this country great as our forefathers did. They will see historic military vehicles (and learn of the veterans) that helped fight and win wars for this country.”
–Written by Marlys Barker, City of Nevada
