Latest / Jeep Talk Show / Is BG4x4 Fest 2026 the Best Off-Road Event in Ohio?

Transcript

Is BG4x4 Fest 2026 the Best Off-Road Event in Ohio? · Jeep Talk Show

0:00
A'ighty-ho boys and girls,
0:01
it's time for another
0:02
Jeep Talk Show interview.
0:03
We're gonna be talking with Rachel.
0:05
Rachel London is one of the organizers
0:07
for BG 4x4 Fest, that's 4x4 Fest.
0:12
This will be her third
0:13
year planning BG 4x4 Fest.
0:16
She is looking forward
0:18
to another great event.
0:19
Rachel, I guess you're doing okay.
0:21
You're doing an okay
0:22
job if you're doing it
0:23
for the third year in a row,
0:25
or you're kin to somebody,
0:26
or you got some dirt on somebody.
0:29
I think it's going alright.
0:30
We're having fun and
0:32
providing some events
0:33
for the Jeepers and the 4x4 enthusiasts
0:36
that wanna come out and use their vehicle
0:39
or show it off or anything like that.
0:42
So the website is bg4x4fest.com,
0:47
bg4x4fest.com.
0:50
When is the event?
0:51
What's the date?
0:53
It's October 3rd, 10 a.m. to about 5 p.m.
0:58
We have a convoy that
0:59
goes through our downtown,
1:01
a little bit beforehand, about 9.30.
1:02
We end up at the fairgrounds around 10,
1:05
and then we have a bunch of events
1:06
that you can
1:07
participate in with your vehicle.
1:09
Very good, and it's
1:10
not a Jeep-only event.
1:13
Correct, it's all 4x4s.
1:14
Sometimes we get some side-by-sides,
1:16
even through the mud pit, but all 4x4s.
1:19
Is there a place for them to hose off,
1:21
or are they responsible
1:23
for their own cleanup?
1:25
There's a place to hose off, at least,
1:27
before they go back out on the road.
1:29
Good, good, good.
1:30
I could see, I mean,
1:31
some people don't care,
1:32
but I mean, I could
1:33
see that they're thinking
1:34
about it afterwards.
1:36
Like, you're not
1:37
getting in the house, no.
1:38
You're not getting in my
1:39
truck, that type of thing.
1:42
Very, very good.
1:42
Okay, so tell us a
1:44
little bit about the event.
1:46
Who is it to benefit?
1:47
Why do you do this?
1:48
I mean, it's always
1:49
great to have a good time,
1:51
but what's the benefit behind this?
1:54
So a handful of us from
1:55
our town came together
1:57
because we wanted to
1:58
give back to the community,
1:59
and we found this as a way to do that.
2:03
We have the National
2:04
Tractable Championships here.
2:06
We have the Fairgrounds.
2:07
We have VisitBG and
2:09
Thayer Family Dealers.
2:11
And so it took all of us
2:13
to kind of come together
2:13
to put this all on, and
2:15
we made a nonprofit, 501c3,
2:20
so that all of the money that we raise
2:23
goes towards providing scholarships
2:26
for Wood County residents
2:27
that are going into agriculture
2:30
or trade schooling.
2:32
And so for the last two years,
2:36
we've given a total of $9,000 in
2:38
scholarships to nine kids.
2:40
And it was either towards
2:42
tooling, towards school,
2:44
agriculture school, trade
2:45
school, anything like that.
2:48
So it's cool to be able to give back
2:51
and help in a little bit of a way.
2:54
Now, you know where the event is,
2:57
and some people recognize the name,
2:59
but for folks that maybe are in the area
3:01
and they're not aware,
3:03
maybe it's a little
3:04
outside their known area,
3:05
where is this being held?
3:08
So we are in Northwest
3:10
Ohio in Bowling Green,
3:12
and then we have our Fairgrounds
3:14
is where the event takes place.
3:16
And that's just outside of
3:17
a downtown Bowling Green.
3:19
Very good.
3:21
And would you say it is
3:23
kind of out in the boonies
3:24
or is it close to places
3:27
to sleep, places to eat?
3:29
I mean, like if you wanted to drive in
3:31
and there's hotels and
3:32
things that you could stay at.
3:34
Yep, we're also a college town,
3:36
so we have lots of hotels around,
3:38
lots of different food options,
3:41
lots of pizza bars, anything like that.
3:43
Lots of stuff to do here.
3:45
We have a hype event the night before,
3:47
so you can come in and crush some cars
3:49
or take our hill and
3:52
try out your vehicle,
3:53
pick up your packets and all of that,
3:55
and then check out our downtown
3:57
with some shopping or food and hotels.
4:01
We also offer camping at the Fairgrounds.
4:05
So if you do come in,
4:07
you can stay right there.
4:09
Very nice.
4:11
All right, so I'm sorry, you gave a date.
4:14
I don't think we got a time.
4:15
And is it a multi-day
4:16
event or a one-day event?
4:18
It's a one-day event on October 3rd.
4:20
We start the convoy that
4:22
goes through our downtown
4:23
about 930, and then the
4:24
event starts at the Fairgrounds
4:26
at 10 and goes to about five o'clock.
4:28
And we have the car
4:29
show, we have a vendor row,
4:31
we have kids
4:32
activities, a kiddie pedal pole,
4:34
we have a sled pole.
4:36
You can try and hook your truck on
4:38
and see how far you can pull the sled,
4:40
a burnout pit and a mud pit.
4:44
So how do you get
4:44
involved in the drive thing
4:47
that you were just talking about?
4:48
Is that something you
4:49
need to sign up for?
4:50
Or I would think that you
4:52
gotta at least communicate out
4:53
where you're meeting up.
4:54
Yep, so it's a free
4:57
event for the community,
4:59
and then we charge a little bit for each,
5:01
if you wanna
5:01
participate in any of the events.
5:03
It's like 25 or $45,
5:05
just depending on which one.
5:08
And so right on our website,
5:09
there's a place to
5:09
register for those events.
5:11
So you can register ahead of time.
5:13
You get a t-shirt with
5:14
your convoy registration,
5:16
and we start that on
5:18
the south side of town
5:19
and then drive through.
5:21
And I would assume
5:22
that's any legal vehicle,
5:24
motorcycles, if it's
5:25
side-by-sides are legal in your area,
5:28
does any legal vehicle
5:30
that can be on the street?
5:31
Yep, yep.
5:33
The more the merrier, I would think too,
5:34
because a lot of people go,
5:36
what the hell is going on?
5:37
And then some of them go, oh yeah,
5:38
I remember this from last year, yeah.
5:40
All right.
5:40
(laughs)
5:41
We have a good time, and
5:42
there's lots of vehicles
5:43
that come out and some really cool ones
5:44
to take a look at and see.
5:45
It's really, it's cool.
5:47
Very cool. A good time.
5:49
Very cool.
5:49
So it's not a multi-day event,
5:52
but you have a hype event
5:53
the day before, correct?
5:55
Yep, at the dealership,
5:57
we have a place for packet pickup,
5:59
we do some car crushing, we
6:01
have some food trucks, music.
6:03
We have a hill in the
6:04
back of our dealership
6:06
kind of set up with
6:08
railroad ties and tires
6:11
and stuff like that to try out.
6:14
Yeah, somebody's really busy.
6:16
When do you guys start working on this?
6:18
You gotta be working on it
6:19
at least a week ahead of time.
6:20
Yeah, almost as soon
6:22
as the last one's over,
6:23
we start again, so.
6:26
So the tires and the train ties,
6:30
all that stuff stays up year round?
6:33
No, we take that down
6:34
and then put that stuff up.
6:36
Yeah, about a week ahead of time, I
6:37
guess, for that stuff.
6:39
All right, I hate to even ask this,
6:40
but, and you probably
6:42
picked this time of year
6:43
because you really don't
6:43
have a problem with rain,
6:44
but what happens if it rains?
6:47
We got the mud pit.
6:48
If it rains, just come.
6:50
(laughs)
6:50
Bring an umbrella, is what I hear.
6:54
Rain or shine, yep.
6:57
All right, so we've already covered the
6:59
purpose of the event.
7:00
Oh, and that was the other thing,
7:02
whatever you're paying for for the event,
7:04
it's going towards the charity.
7:06
So it's a good thing.
7:08
And I think you said 501c,
7:09
so it would be a write-off?
7:12
Yep, it is.
7:13
Very good, very good.
7:14
All right, so who is this primarily for?
7:17
Would you say family,
7:19
serious competitors,
7:20
casual enthusiasts?
7:21
Yes.
7:22
Yeah, all of it.
7:25
(laughs)
7:25
Kind of a family event.
7:27
We do, we have some
7:29
competitions with the burnout pit
7:31
and this lead pool this year
7:32
will also be a competition.
7:34
We have some fun little awards
7:36
that we give away along with some money.
7:37
So a little bit of both.
7:39
I mean, mostly a family friendly event
7:42
that we want the
7:43
community to come out and see
7:44
and participate in and have a good time.
7:47
Sure.
7:49
I think you've mentioned
7:50
this a couple of times now,
7:52
but what are the main activities
7:54
that you're focusing on during the event?
7:56
What is it that you really
7:58
want people to enjoy seeing?
8:00
I mean, burnouts are fun.
8:01
The mud pit certainly is fun.
8:03
Yeah, we'd like that
8:05
community to come out and see
8:07
like the convoy that goes through town
8:09
and see all the vehicles
8:10
that are gonna be there
8:11
and then they park
8:12
right at the fairgrounds.
8:13
So we have the car show there,
8:16
the burnout pit and the mud pit
8:18
and then the sled pole
8:21
is right at the stadium
8:22
where they pull for the
8:23
national tractor pull championship.
8:25
So really all of them
8:27
are fun to come out and see
8:28
and we get people lined up
8:30
for the mud pit right away
8:31
and they pull their cars right up
8:33
and just watch all day
8:34
and see the mud flying
8:35
and have a good time.
8:38
The first year at the end, we let the
8:40
kids play in the mud
8:41
that had kind of splashed out of it.
8:43
I think they had fun with that.
8:45
Have you changed the
8:46
dates at all year to year?
8:48
I mean, have you found a, I
8:49
mean, if somebody was aware
8:51
of it, maybe they're not paying attention
8:52
and they're going, oh yeah, yeah, I know.
8:54
It's this time every year.
8:55
Has it been basically the
8:56
same time of year every year?
8:58
Yep, the first Saturday of October.
9:01
Very good.
9:02
Does it get cool at all
9:03
up there for you guys?
9:05
Yeah, it does.
9:08
The first two years have
9:09
been great weather wise,
9:12
maybe a little sweatshirt in the morning,
9:13
but by bright and sunny in the afternoon,
9:15
t-shirt and pants and
9:16
you're having a great time.
9:18
Yeah, I mean, it's like 97
9:20
degrees down here right now
9:21
and I'm looking forward to October,
9:23
but it's going to be mid
9:25
to late October, if that,
9:27
before we get a cold front.
9:29
We're starting to cool down now.
9:30
This week at 80s, next week at 70s I saw,
9:33
so kids are going back to school
9:35
and it starts cooling down here.
9:37
So are the events that you
9:41
have, are they scheduled?
9:43
Is there a schedule that
9:44
people can see on the website?
9:47
Yeah, most of them go all day long,
9:49
so you can go to any of
9:50
them at any time and watch it.
9:53
Yeah.
9:54
So nothing like if you
9:56
want to do the mud pit
9:57
or you want to watch the
9:58
mud pit, you go and do that
10:00
and then maybe you go
10:01
over and see something else,
10:02
you can go see that and it's
10:03
just always kind of going on.
10:06
Yep, yep, we have the
10:07
vendor row open all day,
10:09
the car show open all day,
10:11
and then it's, you know,
10:12
however long they're polling
10:13
and mud pits open all day, so.
10:17
So for the folks that have heard
10:18
one of our interviews before,
10:21
is there anything new this year,
10:22
any kind of special vendors, anything?
10:26
Pretty similar to last year.
10:28
I think we're working on more next year
10:30
to maybe make it more of a
10:32
weekend event and two day event.
10:34
That's interesting.
10:36
So you've been getting a good turnout
10:37
if you're looking at
10:38
making a multi-day event.
10:40
Yeah, we've been growing each year
10:42
and being able to do a
10:43
little bit more each year,
10:44
so we have the room, we have the space,
10:46
and so I think we're ready
10:47
to kind of take that jump
10:49
to the next level.
10:50
Do you recall what your
10:51
turnout was last year?
10:53
We were over 5,000
10:57
estimated that attended the event.
11:01
So it's not like a huge event.
11:03
I know some people, they
11:05
don't like a lot of people.
11:06
They like a little more room.
11:08
I mean, you guys would
11:09
like a lot of people,
11:10
but going out there, it's an easy way
11:14
to keep up with your kids too,
11:15
because you know how the
11:15
kids like to run around
11:17
and go do things, which is wonderful.
11:19
Yeah, we have lots of space though.
11:21
We're able to spread out a little bit too
11:23
and see everything.
11:26
So I think we've covered this,
11:28
but let me just ask the question,
11:29
what activities do you
11:30
need to pre-register for?
11:32
The run in the--
11:34
Yep, the convoy, the mud pit
11:40
we have a registration for,
11:41
and then we have the sled
11:43
pole and the burnout pit.
11:44
So four activities.
11:46
Is there anybody that can't
11:48
be involved in the sled pole?
11:50
I would assume they would need a vehicle.
11:51
They can't strongman it.
11:53
Correct.
11:54
(laughs) A vehicle with a hitch.
11:57
(laughs)
11:57
So have you had Jeeps out there?
12:00
And if you did, it's probably an XJ.
12:02
We did have a Jeep, but
12:05
we can adjust the sled
12:06
so that it fits the
12:07
vehicle and it's not like so much
12:09
that you can't pull it or
12:11
there's risk of blowing your motor
12:12
or anything like that.
12:13
Like we can adjust it
12:14
and we do different classes
12:17
to kind of set that and--
12:19
Do you have anybody?
12:20
I mean, I know you got a crowd there,
12:22
but do you have anybody
12:24
dedicated to do videos?
12:26
So whenever you got
12:27
your XJ set up, you could--
12:29
Yeah, we have Salido Aerial
12:31
Media does all of our videos.
12:33
Good, that's neat because you know
12:35
they're gonna wanna use
12:35
it for social media.
12:37
Yep.
12:39
(laughs) All right, so is this general admission
12:44
or is there a ticket to get in?
12:45
I know that you pay, you
12:47
have to do the other things,
12:49
but can people just
12:50
show up and go to the movie
12:52
and not buy the popcorn in the Coke?
12:54
The $40 popcorn in Coke?
12:56
Yeah, it's free for
12:57
the community to attend
12:58
or to show up, it's just the
12:59
events that cost a little bit.
13:01
Yeah, so you can just attend
13:04
and there'll be food there
13:06
with vendors that you can buy.
13:08
Do you guys, oh, I always
13:12
love talking about food.
13:13
Do you know what your
13:14
food vendors are already?
13:16
Yeah, we have a kettle
13:18
corn, a slushie, a lemonade,
13:21
pulled pork, a barbecue
13:23
stand, we have a Mexican stand,
13:27
the donuts, all the fun things, fries.
13:31
We're gonna have to take a break,
13:32
I need to get some food.
13:35
(laughs)
13:36
Lots of good things to come
13:37
in out and check out and eat.
13:39
Oh, give me an idea what
13:40
the costs are to do things
13:43
like the sled pole,
13:44
the mud pit, the show,
13:46
oh, you have a show
13:47
and shine too, don't you?
13:48
Yep, yep, that one, the
13:50
show and shine is just $5.
13:53
The mud pit is 25, the sled pole is 25,
13:57
and the convoy through town is 45
13:59
because that includes the t-shirt.
14:01
Okay, good. And a packing of goodies
14:03
from all the vendors and stuff like that.
14:05
So the t-shirt, is there
14:09
an example of the t-shirt?
14:10
I can put it here in our video.
14:12
I got someone from last year.
14:14
Oh, okay, nothing wrong with that.
14:16
It's a Heather green color for this year.
14:18
So, and you can buy
14:20
those while you're out there,
14:21
I would assume.
14:22
Yep, you can buy them, they're $25.
14:25
Oh, not bad. With all the sponsors
14:26
on the back and our logo on the front,
14:28
and we have picked a
14:29
different color each year for.
14:31
Oh yeah, because you don't want somebody,
14:33
like I bought a t-shirt,
14:34
it's the one from last year.
14:36
Right. Do you have anybody
14:37
coming out with the year prior t-shirts,
14:40
is supporting the event?
14:42
Yeah, yeah, we see them
14:44
around town all the time,
14:45
so it's fun.
14:46
Do you guys do stickers for the event?
14:48
I mean, handing out
14:49
stickers or selling stickers?
14:51
Yeah, we have some stickers.
14:52
We've made up different
14:54
sayings to go with them too,
14:56
like if you can see
14:58
paint, you didn't do it right
14:59
for the mud pit and
15:01
different stuff like that,
15:02
that some of the people that have
15:03
attended have said to us
15:05
and were like, "Oh, that's a good idea."
15:06
And we put it on a sticker or a t-shirt
15:07
or something like that.
15:10
So I think you said that
15:11
you can go to the website,
15:13
bg4x4event.com and buy tickets,
15:17
but is there any other
15:19
way you can buy the tickets?
15:21
Is it just online?
15:22
Can you do it when
15:22
you're out there at the event?
15:24
We'll be able to at the event.
15:26
We prefer ahead of time,
15:27
just so we're kind of more ready
15:29
and smooth. Well, everybody wants change.
15:31
(laughing)
15:35
But either way.
15:38
All righty, so, oh
15:40
yeah, this is a good one.
15:42
Looking at a list of
15:42
questions I have here.
15:44
Are there any deadlines for registration?
15:48
No, again, we prefer
15:49
probably about October 1st
15:51
would be good and get everything around
15:54
and for us to have it run smooth,
15:56
but we'll take them day off, it's fine.
15:59
And if you're not buying anything,
16:04
do you prefer to have registration?
16:06
Even though it's a walk-up event,
16:08
that way it gives you an
16:09
idea how many people are coming?
16:11
Nope, we just have it
16:12
free to the community,
16:13
so any walk-ins is fine.
16:15
I guess in the third year,
16:16
you got a pretty good idea
16:18
what the turnout's gonna be.
16:20
Yeah, it's been good and we have fun
16:22
and I think the community likes it,
16:24
so we just try and get the
16:25
word out that we're having it
16:26
and when it's gonna be and
16:27
I think now that they know
16:29
this will be the third time, the
16:30
beginning of October,
16:31
I think we'll be good to go.
16:35
I don't know if you have
16:35
any groups that come out,
16:38
but do you have any groups
16:40
or maybe you see a majority
16:42
of Jeepers or Bronco
16:45
owners or side-by-sides,
16:47
do you have definite groups?
16:48
Yeah, I have a couple that come out,
16:50
definitely the majority is probably Jeeps
16:54
and the trucks kinda do this lead pole
16:58
more than the Jeeps.
17:00
One of the clubs helps
17:01
us with the hype event
17:04
and then the car
17:06
crushing during that in Finley.
17:10
Yeah, we try and get as
17:11
many involved as we can.
17:13
Any group names you'd like to advertise?
17:17
I think the Finley
17:18
Jeepers is what they call,
17:20
they come out and help us.
17:23
Do you guys have, I'm
17:25
mainly thinking for the kids,
17:27
do you have, not
17:28
security, but safety people?
17:30
I would especially
17:32
think like in the mud pole,
17:34
mud pit, you wanna make
17:36
sure kids don't get too close.
17:38
Yeah, we have all the, we
17:41
have like a snow fence up
17:42
and we have some
17:43
blockades and barriers and stuff
17:45
that go around there
17:46
and we have volunteers
17:47
that are out to help with all that
17:49
and then we also have the sheriff's
17:52
department on staff.
17:53
Oh, good.
17:54
We haven't needed them, so
17:55
that's good, but they're there.
17:56
Oh, it is good, yeah.
17:57
Well, that's always a concern, isn't it?
18:00
Especially, is there
18:01
beer available at the event?
18:03
We don't sell it, but we
18:04
don't, say no, I guess so.
18:07
Well, I mean, if you're not selling it,
18:09
that kind of takes the,
18:10
pardon the pun, the edge off
18:11
as far as people getting
18:12
a little out of control.
18:14
Yeah, and with people
18:15
being able to drive around
18:17
through the fairgrounds,
18:19
we don't really want that
18:20
to become a concern or anything.
18:21
Right, no, I don't plan.
18:22
So lots of kids coming out to watch
18:24
and we have some
18:25
tractor rides for the kids
18:27
so they can sit in the
18:28
tractor and ride it up and down
18:30
and we have a wagon
18:31
that goes through, so.
18:34
If people were bringing
18:35
out their small children
18:37
that have to have diaper
18:38
changes, is there an area
18:40
where they can take care of the kids?
18:43
Yep, they have
18:44
bathrooms at the fairgrounds
18:47
that are open for our
18:48
event and we have them staffed
18:50
and cleaned regularly that day.
18:53
Okay, we talked about human babies.
18:55
What about the fur babies?
18:57
Do you guys encourage, discourage dogs
19:00
and animals out there?
19:01
They can, yeah, we have
19:03
no problem either way.
19:04
I would assume that you
19:05
would really not necessarily
19:08
demand but require them to be on a leash.
19:11
Yes, they'd have to be for sure, yeah.
19:13
Well, you gotta tell me
19:14
some people like this stuff.
19:15
I mean, I see people walking
19:18
dogs around the neighborhood
19:19
here and big dogs and
19:20
they're just running around
19:21
and I just wanna go, hey, are you stupid?
19:25
Right.
19:27
It's like that thing I hear all--
19:28
The car's going all over,
19:30
like you definitely
19:31
have to be on a leash.
19:32
Yeah, it's like I see on social media
19:35
where the guy says, does my dog bite?
19:38
Not me, but you don't know--
19:39
Yeah, right.
19:41
You don't know what he or
19:43
she's gonna do, you know?
19:44
Or when another dog comes
19:45
around if it's aggressive
19:46
or anything like that, so.
19:47
Exactly, yeah, exactly.
19:49
So what do you think a
19:52
good thing to bring is?
19:53
I mean, obviously there's food available,
19:55
there's bathroom facilities available,
19:57
there's chairs, or do you guys like,
20:01
is it okay to bring folding
20:02
chairs and stuff out there?
20:03
You can bring chairs, but we have stands
20:06
at most of the events.
20:10
Out by the mud pit,
20:11
we take some out there
20:12
and people pull up their cars to that.
20:14
So there's definitely
20:15
places for chairs there.
20:17
The sled pole is done in our grandstand,
20:19
so really no need for chairs there.
20:22
There's plenty of seating there.
20:24
Yeah, I mean, for somebody
20:25
that hasn't been there before,
20:26
they don't know, like,
20:28
well, I'm gonna stand there
20:28
like an idiot watching a sled pole.
20:31
No, there's seating there that you can,
20:33
just like you can at any kind of event
20:35
that you would anticipate being at.
20:37
Good, good, good.
20:38
All right, so I think
20:39
we've already covered restrooms
20:41
or these physical restrooms.
20:44
I mean, I guess a
20:44
porta potty is physical,
20:45
but you know what I mean?
20:46
Something that's not a porta potty.
20:49
We have both because there's some spots
20:51
that are kind of open in between events
20:54
that you may need to stop at.
20:55
So there's some porta potties out there,
20:57
but there's physical,
20:59
there's three separate
21:00
physical restrooms that are open.
21:02
Yeah, oh, and we've
21:03
already kind of covered
21:04
the getting muddy out
21:05
there on the side by sides.
21:07
Is that for any vehicle?
21:08
Can you pull up and hose
21:11
your vehicle down a little bit?
21:13
Yes, you can.
21:14
The mud pit, we try and
21:16
stick to four by fours
21:17
because we have had a two-wheel drive
21:20
to go through before they get stuck.
21:22
So the tow truck company
21:24
is there to help with that,
21:25
but after a couple, they're like,
21:27
"Nope, it has to be a
21:28
four by four to get through."
21:30
Do you have this stuff,
21:30
or you got somebody doing
21:32
the video and everything,
21:33
do you have this stuff up on YouTube?
21:35
Uh-huh, yeah.
21:37
Yeah, it's fun to watch and see.
21:38
They put those cameras right on the car,
21:40
so there's mud flying everywhere,
21:42
and on the front of the sled pole,
21:43
you can see all that
21:44
going everywhere too, so.
21:46
Any drone overhead
21:47
activity, what we call B roll?
21:50
Yep, they have all that.
21:51
Yeah, we've never
21:51
talked about that before.
21:52
That would be a lot of fun to look at.
21:54
I've never seen that, so.
21:55
Oh, yeah.
21:56
That'd be fun to see last year's.
21:58
Do you put anything
22:00
together as a teaser for the event?
22:03
You take last year's
22:04
stuff, or even the year prior,
22:06
and put it together as a teaser?
22:07
Yep, we've been doing that
22:10
the last couple months, really.
22:11
We do one at the end that
22:13
shows what happened that day,
22:15
and then we start again.
22:17
Around April, we start
22:19
all the videos again.
22:21
All right, so let's
22:22
mention the sponsors again,
22:24
because I wanna make
22:25
sure we get a plug in there
22:26
for the dealership that you
22:28
guys are, that you're with.
22:30
Yep, Thayer Family
22:32
Dealers is our sponsor.
22:34
Visit BG is our sponsor,
22:37
and then the National
22:40
Tractor Pole Championships,
22:41
they're the ones that
22:42
put on the sled pole.
22:43
Their big event is this week.
22:45
So you got an actual deal there.
22:47
It's not some makeshift sled.
22:50
Right.
22:51
(laughs) It is the National Tractor Pole
22:53
Championships that are there.
22:55
I mean, if anybody comes
22:58
out to our town this weekend,
23:00
they can see the real big
23:01
tractors pole, trucks pole,
23:03
all of that.
23:04
These are the same people
23:05
that come back and help us.
23:07
Again, to get back to the community,
23:09
and show some support
23:10
of the students in town,
23:12
and help them.
23:14
Now, I know you
23:14
mentioned $9,000 in scholarships
23:19
and things, but let's talk
23:20
about where the proceeds go,
23:22
again, just to cover that.
23:24
Because it's funny
23:25
how people will listen,
23:26
and they'll miss it, and
23:28
then they'll get interested
23:29
based on what we're talking about,
23:31
and it's good to hear it again.
23:32
So a word of the proceeds.
23:34
They asked the resident of Wood County,
23:36
the county that we live in,
23:38
and then they have to be
23:41
going to school for agriculture,
23:44
since our community is
23:45
a big agriculture area,
23:46
we have lots of fields and farming,
23:48
and that's what a lot of the
23:50
career paths are around here,
23:51
and the people that are
23:52
helping with this event,
23:54
that's what they do.
23:55
So these are the things
23:56
that we wanted to support,
23:58
and then trade schooling, any tools,
24:01
or schooling, or anything like that.
24:04
We put money towards as well.
24:06
We had some welding, we
24:08
had some heavy machinery,
24:11
and then most of them
24:12
have been going to school
24:13
for agriculture and
24:14
ergonometry, and stuff like that.
24:18
I like that.
24:19
That's kind of pushing the real jobs,
24:21
the ones that they talk about,
24:22
they don't have enough people for.
24:24
Right, well, and honestly, with AI,
24:27
those are the things that are gonna be,
24:30
we're gonna still need.
24:31
Right, yeah, those
24:33
will be going for a while.
24:34
And I think that even with AI,
24:36
and whenever the robots come out,
24:38
I still think there's
24:39
going to be a group of people,
24:41
and I think it'll be a large group,
24:42
that want human made,
24:46
human taking care of things.
24:48
I worked in a data center,
24:51
where people would call
24:53
in, customers would call in,
24:54
and I worked in the
24:55
gold portion of the center,
24:57
because that's where the Americans were.
25:00
And when you spoke with American,
25:02
you didn't have to worry about accents
25:04
that you couldn't understand.
25:05
Nothing against those folks, smart folks,
25:08
but if you're calling for help,
25:09
and you can't understand
25:10
what the hell you're saying,
25:11
well, that could be a problem.
25:13
Yep.
25:14
All right, so I think we already
25:17
mentioned the website,
25:18
bg4x4fest.com, I believe is correct.
25:24
So that's where you can go.
25:25
Oh, and is that the best place to go
25:27
for last minute
25:28
information, changes and things?
25:30
Or would you build the Facebook?
25:32
Probably Facebook would be the best
25:34
for last minute stuff.
25:37
So I asked you about
25:38
the photos and videos,
25:39
you got people out there.
25:40
How would they go
25:42
about seeing that stuff?
25:43
Would they just go to
25:43
YouTube, go to your website?
25:45
Where would they go find their stuff?
25:47
YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
25:51
They're posted on all of them.
25:53
Very good.
25:53
So that would be maybe during
25:55
and shortly after the event?
25:58
Yep.
26:00
All right, so, oh, are you
26:05
guys still accepting vendors?
26:07
Would it be still
26:09
interested in hearing from vendors
26:10
that might wanna show up out there?
26:12
Yep, absolutely.
26:13
We got plenty of space
26:14
and we have indoor space,
26:15
we have outdoor space.
26:17
That's kind of why weather
26:19
isn't too much of a factor
26:20
because we have an area
26:21
for indoor, if needed.
26:23
Oh, good.
26:23
Good, that's nice.
26:24
So did you know off the top of your head,
26:27
a few of the vendors that you've already
26:29
got scheduled to be there?
26:32
Yeah, we have some
26:34
local businesses in town.
26:36
We have Platinum Autospa again,
26:37
when you go through the
26:38
mud pit, that's something.
26:41
They can help clean you up the next day
26:43
and also retro
26:44
detailing, two of them in town
26:46
that can help with that.
26:47
They'll both be there
26:48
so you can kind of see
26:50
what they have and they
26:51
do a great job detailing,
26:53
window tinting, all of that stuff.
26:56
Bass Pro Shops, they come every year.
26:58
They have some
26:59
giveaways that they hand out.
27:01
Jeep Fest is there with some,
27:06
their event was a
27:06
couple weeks ago in Toledo,
27:09
they come out to support ours as well.
27:11
And then we do have a kiddie pedal pole,
27:13
that's kind of in the vendor area
27:14
where the kids can do their own polling.
27:17
So a little bit of everything.
27:20
We have the RC
27:20
crawlers, kids really like that.
27:23
For $5, they can get on and
27:26
we have the whole course set up
27:27
that then they get a
27:28
chance to win one also.
27:30
Oh, those things can be very expensive.
27:33
So that's a good price.
27:36
All right, so I don't know
27:37
if all Bass Pros are the same.
27:39
I mean, the Bass Pro
27:41
that we have here in Katy,
27:43
they have a big place where
27:45
all the fish are in there.
27:47
So I would, before the
27:49
event, I would contact Bass Pro
27:51
and see if they can give
27:53
you print up some coupons
27:55
for five minutes in the pool.
27:57
So whoever wins gets
27:59
to swim with the fishes,
28:00
but in a good way.
28:01
Right, I don't know if they do that.
28:04
That's when they kick you out.
28:05
Yeah, exactly.
28:08
That's why they don't
28:08
sell beer at Bass Pro.
28:11
Did you imagine?
28:13
Yeah, that would be cool.
28:14
No, no, it's okay.
28:15
She had a coupon.
28:19
And of course you'd
28:19
have to be fully clothed.
28:21
You couldn't do that with a bathing suit.
28:23
Yeah, that'd be one of the requirements.
28:25
All right, so I think
28:26
you already mentioned plans
28:28
for the future.
28:29
You're looking at doing a
28:30
multi-day event maybe next year.
28:32
Any other plans that you
28:34
guys have for future events?
28:37
Nope, just working on that
28:39
and maybe having our car show downtown
28:42
and then having the other
28:43
events on the other couple days.
28:45
So just expanding and growing
28:48
and any more we can do to help
28:51
raise the money to give back.
28:53
So this is your opportunity to complain.
28:57
What's the biggest
28:58
challenge putting this event on?
29:02
For me, it's just finding
29:05
the time to do everything
29:06
because this is on top of
29:07
my other job and all that.
29:10
So just being able to
29:14
reach out to everybody
29:15
and get all that around.
29:18
But otherwise it's been great.
29:20
It goes so far, it's gone smooth.
29:22
Our committee is great.
29:23
And we're able to put it all together
29:26
and have a really good day.
29:28
So I can't help but think
29:29
especially on the first one.
29:31
You're concerned about liability.
29:33
You're concerned about
29:34
how people are gonna act.
29:37
You're concerned about if
29:38
people are gonna show up.
29:40
So you've already got over those humps
29:42
because there's always liability concerns
29:45
but past performance
29:46
is kind of a good way
29:48
of getting the sense of
29:49
the people that are coming.
29:50
So it's not a little thing, but on event,
29:54
it's a little bit of a
29:55
liability one way or another.
29:58
And it always comes down to
30:00
the few things at the end.
30:02
Oh, did we get this?
30:03
How did we get that?
30:04
We forgot to say we needed trash cans.
30:05
We forgot we needed this.
30:07
It's always little things at the end.
30:09
But with the help of
30:10
everybody, it all comes together.
30:13
And it's pretty cool to
30:14
see how much of the community
30:15
comes together to
30:17
help and to pull it off.
30:19
So you got a lot of family
30:21
in the dealership, right?
30:25
Yeah.
30:25
And I know that
30:27
whenever there are siblings
30:28
and parents and
30:30
uncles and all that stuff,
30:31
I don't know the details
30:32
about who's in the thing.
30:34
They think they can abuse relatives.
30:39
(both laughing)
30:42
I make them do some stuff at the--
30:44
Oh good, I was thinking you
30:45
were the one getting abused.
30:46
Oh no.
30:49
I make them get ready and
30:51
I'm being out there helping.
30:52
Yeah, I can well imagine
30:54
that I would be very fearful
30:56
of forgetting the trash
30:57
cans or not having enough.
31:00
Sometimes the nightmares have started
31:02
and those are the things.
31:05
Oh, we forgot this, we forgot that.
31:08
Well, I guess you could
31:09
always make a run to Walmart
31:10
or something, right?
31:11
Buy trash cans.
31:13
But that wasn't in the budget.
31:14
So then there's all this stuff.
31:16
Do you guys have
31:17
meetings to go over this stuff
31:18
or is it just the left of you?
31:21
No, we have meetings
31:23
probably about monthly
31:25
up until six months
31:26
out then every other week
31:28
and now we're getting to the weekly.
31:31
I don't think anybody likes meetings
31:33
except if you're the
31:34
one holding the meeting
31:35
because otherwise they're boring.
31:37
But I would imagine
31:38
the meetings are great
31:39
to help keep from missing things.
31:42
Yeah, we meet at the local coffee shop.
31:46
There's a handful of us
31:47
that go and talk about this
31:49
and what we need to do.
31:50
Oh, that's perfect.
31:51
That's a good meeting.
31:52
We talk about them all together.
31:52
Yeah, it's a good time.
31:54
Yeah, enjoy.
31:56
We talk about them together.
31:57
Enjoyable, not to sit in
31:58
a board room or something
32:00
where it's not as interesting and fun.
32:04
All right, well, actually I was gonna say
32:07
if it's a Zoom
32:07
meeting, they're kind of fun
32:08
because you don't have to
32:09
pay attention to the meeting.
32:10
You can be off browsing stuff.
32:12
No, we are in person with coffee.
32:15
That way you have to be involved.
32:17
That's a good idea.
32:18
And wake you up and get you ready.
32:21
Well, there's coffee, so that's good.
32:23
All right, well, you know how the kids
32:25
love the social media.
32:26
We've already teased about the YouTube
32:28
and Instagram and Facebook.
32:30
Where can you be
32:31
found all those platforms?
32:34
Yep, all those are BG 4x4 Fest.
32:39
Those are the handles on everything.
32:40
And then BG4x4fest.com is the website.
32:43
And what's the best way
32:45
for vendors to contact you
32:47
if they wanna get involved?
32:48
And it may not be you, maybe somebody,
32:50
a web email or something.
32:52
Yeah, info at
32:54
BG4x4fest.com comes right to me.
32:58
Any contacts on Facebook, Messenger,
33:01
or anything like that,
33:01
that comes to us too, so.
33:04
So I think we covered
33:05
everything pretty well,
33:06
but if people still have questions,
33:07
is there a good place
33:08
to go to ask questions?
33:10
Like maybe, I don't
33:11
know, like they wanna bring
33:12
their grandmother and
33:14
she's in a wheelchair.
33:15
And can you get around in a wheelchair?
33:19
Yes, well that answers yes.
33:20
But also on our website,
33:22
and then there's a place
33:23
for questions on the
33:24
website that come directly to us,
33:26
to me, then we can answer them.
33:27
And I would assume you can
33:28
post up on the Facebook group
33:31
or whatever too and get direct things.
33:33
And maybe you can get
33:34
information from people
33:35
that have attended before.
33:36
Right, yep, there's lots
33:38
of comments on the videos
33:39
and the pictures and stuff, and some
33:41
people see their own
33:42
and post their own, so
33:45
get a lot of information
33:46
through those.
33:47
All right, Rachel, well
33:48
I think the third year,
33:50
I think that you've already
33:52
gone through this enough times
33:54
where number one, you
33:55
know what's going on.
33:58
I bet you you're really
33:58
happy by the end of the day.
34:02
I mean, I'm sure it's fun to
34:04
be there and see it working out
34:05
and have people that are
34:06
really enjoying themselves,
34:08
especially the kids, but
34:09
I would imagine it's nice
34:11
being done and you're not
34:12
having to worry about it.
34:13
The day goes fast, it's crazy how quick,
34:16
oh, okay, I guess it's
34:18
five o'clock, we're done,
34:19
we had fun, we solved
34:20
everything and did everything.
34:21
So it goes fast, but the
34:23
next day is a good, I sleep in.
34:25
I want to sit down.
34:26
Yeah, that's the one day you
34:28
get before you have to start
34:29
the planning the next year.
34:30
That's right, yep.
34:31
What's gonna be the
34:32
difficulty of having a multi-day event?
34:34
I mean, I know scheduling people and
34:38
probably having people
34:39
out to watch everything
34:41
to make sure it doesn't get
34:42
molested overnight.
34:45
Right, yeah, I think we have the
34:47
capability to do it.
34:48
We have the hotels, we have the camping.
34:51
If people, if we can
34:52
get the camping there,
34:55
where people are already there,
34:56
we're talking about doing
34:57
a concert one of the nights
34:59
to keep people overnight.
35:02
Camping World is our camping sponsor,
35:04
so they help with some of that.
35:06
So I think we can just
35:08
get enough going on each day
35:09
and have enough
35:10
activity and keep them wanting
35:14
to be there overnight and doing things,
35:16
and then be there for the next morning.
35:18
How much camping area
35:20
do you have available?
35:21
Estimate number of
35:22
people with tents and things.
35:25
Is it really big?
35:26
Yeah, it is.
35:27
I am not good with
35:29
estimating, but I mean, we can put--
35:31
We're not talking about five.
35:32
For a problem.
35:34
Like five families or
35:35
something like that.
35:36
A bunch of people could
35:37
come out there and camp.
35:39
Yes, yes.
35:40
And would you say--
35:41
Yes, it would never fall in love.
35:43
The tractor poles, that's
35:45
four days, they fill it up,
35:46
and that's a national tractor pole
35:48
championship this week,
35:50
but otherwise there's so much space
35:53
that we got plenty of room.
35:54
Right.
35:55
And water hookups and
35:56
electric hookups and all that.
35:58
Would you say that
35:59
that's a good thing to do
36:00
if you're gonna do the hype event?
36:02
Come out for the hype event, get set up,
36:04
and then go to the
36:05
hype event and go back?
36:06
Yep, they're all within a
36:07
couple miles of each other,
36:08
so it's not a lot of
36:09
driving or a lot of downtime.
36:12
We've got a bunch of stuff going on.
36:14
Very, very cool.
36:15
I think this is the
36:16
most detailed interview
36:18
that we've had about your
36:19
event over the three years.
36:21
I think we covered a lot of information.
36:23
And I'll just tell people,
36:25
I don't mind getting two
36:27
views for the YouTube videos,
36:28
so watch it again, folks.
36:30
Yeah, there you go.
36:32
Rachel, thank you so much for being here,
36:34
and be nice to the
36:36
family at the dealership.
36:38
I'll try.
36:39
Don't abuse them.
36:40
Thanks for having me.
36:41
Yeah, thank you.
36:43
You're my friend, you're my new friend.
36:46
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