Spring in Wildflowers in Salem
The Salem Public Library in cooperation with Salem Parks & Recreation will …
EAST PALESTINE – A long line of Jeeps poured into downtown East Palestine, but more importantly so did the people who were in them as the inaugural East Palestine Jeep Invasion was held Saturday in East Palestine.
The event, which kicked off with a Jeep parade at 11 a.m., gave a much-needed boost to the village’s economy that has been impacted negatively in the wake of the catastrophic Norfolk Southern chemical train derailment that sent East Palestine and its surrounding communities into chaos on Feb. 3. Saturday’s event was the first for the village since the derailment. The event was a way for the village to get the message out that East Palestine was open for business. It was a message that Jeep owners from near and far heard loud and clear.
One Jeep-driving family made the hour-drive from Steubenville to help lift East Palestine back to its feet and shake the stigma the derailment has cast on the town. Sara and Michael Montgomery participated in the parade and brought their three children, Carmin (14), Annie (10) and Kingston (2).
“Whenever I heard that the morale in this town was pretty low, we knew the town needed to bring it back up,” she said “We heard about the Jeep Invasion on social media so we brought our Jeep and our family up here and did what we could to help East Palestine.”
The family made a day of it.
“We plan on walking around for a few hours,” Michael added. “We want to hit up some local shops, grab something to eat and spend some Ohio cash in Ohio before we head back home.”
An “invasion” is a popular event in the Jeep community. Jeep owners get together and parade through cities to show off their Wranglers, Cherokees, Commachees, J-Series, Wagoneers and the occasional Willys pickup trucks. “Invasions” typically end in a carshow-like fashion with the Jeeps lined up to be appreciated by other Jeep owners or “Jeepers” as they are also known.
If you own a Jeep, you know the Jeep community is bonded together. Saturday’s event was planned but often the camaraderie shared by Jeep owners is spontaneous. The Jeep wave is a friendly greeting between Jeep owners as they pass each other on the roadways. The history of the gesture can be traced back to World War II when soldiers driving the new Government Purposes or General Purpose vehicles (GP for short) would wave to one-another. In the 1960s, the wave made its way into American pop culture as the military vehicles were re-marketed for recreational use.
As the Jeeps paraded down N. Market Street in East Palestine every driver waved to the crowd that filled the sidewalk, as a sign of solidarity and support for the residents who have had their lives and livelihoods turned upside down by the train disaster.
Rubber ducks, another symbol of camaraderie shared in the Jeep community, were tossed from the Jeep windows as the motorcade made its way through East Palestine.
“Ducking a Jeep” is a random-act of kindness in which rubber ducks are left on Jeeps. Often the ducks have a message of appreciation or inspiration written on them. While the Jeep wave can be traced back decades ago, “ducking” began in 2020 by Allison Parliament of Alabama. She started the movement after a physical assault at a Canadian rest stop over Parliament, who has dual citizenship, traveling during COVID restrictions. A stranger had become enraged by her Alabama license plate – so enraged that he shoved her against her Jeep and shook her violently. A few days after the assault, Parliament picked up a bag of rubber ducks from a discount store. As she was leaving the store, she noticed a Jeep in the parking lot. Parliament was still traumatized by the random act of violence she had experienced, but she was also inspired to choose kindness. Parliament scrawled “Nice Jeep. Have a Great Day!” on one of the ducks and left it on the Jeep. She took a picture of her good deed and posted it to social media. The post went viral and the movement was born. Parliament later founded Duck Duck Jeep – a charitable organization that performs other good deeds beyond leaving bath toys on Jeeps. Duck Duck Jeep Ohio has over 21,000 members on Facebook and was instrumental in getting the word out about Saturday’s event in East Palestine. Like the waves, the ducks tossed from the caravan were another way for the Jeep owners to show support for the village.
While the waves and the ducks were appreciated, it was the patronage to the East Palestine businesses that mattered most. Terri Grasleski, one of the event organizers, hoped their impact was felt
“I hope we made a difference today for people in East Palestine and for outsiders looking in,” she said.
Work From Home Government Jobs: 5 Idea
This blog post is part of a special series titled "Spatial Insights into the Gender Employment Gap", powered by the World Bank's Geospatial Operations Support
World Economic Forum’s Centre for Industrial Revolution (C4IR) was formally inaugurated by Telangana Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu during the concludi