The community will see a unique group of vehicles in Fort Scott on October 13 and 14.
The 2024 Military Vehicle Preservation Association Convoy is coming through on its way to Louisiana from Minnesota.
The group was started in the 1970s by “a crazy group of people who started collecting vehicles,” said Charles Toney, convoy planner with responsibility of Fort Scott to New Orleans for the group. They are now in 100 countries around the world.
“The Military Vehicle Preservation Association is an international group of thousands of folks who purchase, rebuild and maintain ground-based military vehicles or transportation equipment,” he said. “MVPA.org. I believe 1974 was when it started.”
“The purpose is to preserve history and educate the public. I drive and maintain three vehicles because I enjoy the challenges and am a retired educator.”
City of Fort Scott Public Relations and Tourism Director, Jackson Tough said “We truly enjoy hosting groups like the Military Vehicle Preservation Association Convoy! Everyone wins when groups like this come through Fort Scott. We offer them a variety of accommodations, restaurants, and attractions and they offer our community an opportunity to see some very interesting military vehicles that we don’t often get to see.”
“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes prep,” Jackson said. “We’ve been working on coordinating this for about a year and I’m glad the convoy is almost here. I hope folks join us at the National Historic Site and the VFW to experience these incredible vehicles and the patriots that pilot them.”
Where One Can View The Vehicles
The convoy of approximately 27 military vehicles will be on display at the Fort Scott National Historic Site (199 Old Fort Blvd.) from noon -2 PM while they tour the fort and historic downtown district on Sunday, October 13, according to a press release from Fort Scott’s Tourism Department.
The drivers and passengers will stay overnight in Fort Scott and be hosted for breakfast by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW Post #1165, on Monday, October 14. The post is located at 1745 S. National. The convoy vehicles will be on display again Monday morning at the VFW from 7:30 -10 A.M.
Afterward, they will travel through the Fort Scott National Cemetery as they depart for the next leg of the journey to Pittsburg, Kansas and points south, according to the press release.
The convoy will retrace the historic 1918 Jefferson Highway route from the Minnesota-Canadian border to New Orleans, Louisiana, traversing 2,500 miles. The group will travel through Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana.
Vehicles, the oldest of which is from the 1940s, include Humvees, Jeeps and a Half, MRAP, Willys, MRZR, Tac-Ops, RSOV, and others.
The Route
The Jefferson Highway was built in the 1910s as part of the national auto trail system, an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada. Named for President Thomas Jefferson and inspired by the east–west Lincoln Highway, the Jefferson Highway was nicknamed the “Palm to Pine Highway” for the varying types of trees found at either end.
For more information and to follow the convoy: www.facebook.com/MVPAConvoy.