BG4x4Fest.com Interview Rachael
In this Jeep Talk Show episode, Tony interviews Rachael Thayer-London from BG4x4Fest.com to discuss the exciting first annual 4×4 Sled Pull Family Fun Event. Happening on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at the Wood County Fairgrounds, this event features a 4×4 sled pull, a convoy through downtown Bowling Green, a Park & Shine car show, vendor row, kids’ activities, and more. Partnered with Thayer Family Dealers, Wood County Fairgrounds, VisitBG, and the National Tractor Pulling Championships, the day-long event will raise scholarships in Agriculture and the Trades for Wood County residents.
hiydee hoe boys and girls, it’s time for the Jeep talk show interview. And today we’re going to be talking with Rachel. I’m going to say Rachel Thayer and she set up as pronouncing it right. London’s Rachel Thayer. London is part of a committee organizing and established establishing the BG four by four Fest BG four. I’m wanting to say some other words in there that I’m, that aren’t here on the, on the, the read BG four by four Fest is launching the first annual four by four sled pull family fun event. That is a mouthful. The event will occur at the wood County fairgrounds on Saturday, October 5th, 2024. BG four by four Fest is a partnership between Thayer family dealers, wood County fairgrounds visit BG and the national tractor pulling championships. This day long event will raise scholarships in agriculture and in the trades for wood County residents. The event will feature a variety of activities for all ages, including four by four sled pole, a convoy of four by fours through downtown Bowling Green. All that, that’s going to be a lot of fun. Uh, the vendor row, uh, a park and shine car show, food vendors, kid activities, and much more. You can find out more about the event by going to a BG as in boy good BG four by four or four X four Fest.com. And I, and that’ll be, I’ll be mentioning that throughout the, uh, the author interview, Rachel. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for having me. All right. So, um, and I asked you this before we got started. When I think of sled pool, I don’t think of Jeeps. How is this Jeep? Uh, how does Jeep factor in on this? Uh, so when we were coming up with this event and thinking about stuff to do, we thought what is Bowling Green known for? And it’s the national tractor pull championships. So, which was actually two weekends ago, um,
out here at the fairgrounds in wood County. And we decided that that was something maybe somebody wanted to try and be able to pull the sled like the big tractors do. Oh, that’s cool.
So we’re, this is just for fun. We’re not trying to blow any motors or blow up your Jeep, but you’re not saying there won’t be motors blown up. I mean, you know, if you’re there for the blown motors, everybody should have insurance. Oh yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So I can see a, uh, uh, a Jeep Cherokee, you know, the original shit box, the XJ, uh, out there trying to pull a sled. So are these the same sleds that like the tractors and the, the, the big, uh, big four by fours do? Is it the same sled? Yes, it’s the same sled, but they can put different weights on them. Oh, okay. Smaller weighted for the vehicle that’s pulling. I could just see a 57 Jeeps all spinning at the start line.
We’ll make it so that they can pull. And then when it gets too hard is when you stop. So that it doesn’t. So is there going to be anything associated with, uh, like a, maybe a participation trophy or a certificate or a sticker or, you know, depending on the, some measurement. I mean, I could see people doing this, you know, to get something on the, on the windshield or on the side glass, you know, like the ET times for quarter mile racing. So we were just talking about that this morning and it’s not going to be a competition because we’re not trying to blow any motors or it’s just for fun, but we will do, we’re thinking maybe like a poker chip with the distance that you were able to go. Yeah. Um, maybe a window cling or something like that is an idea also. So we’ll, we’ll throw some of those around, but yes, there’s a, gonna be a participation. Oh, you got it. Yeah. You gotta have something to hand out like that. I mean, so the, the other thing that comes to mind is a YouTube. Are you guys going to be out there? You tubing and putting this stuff up? I mean, maybe the, the really interesting ones. Yes. Yep. Good. Good. Good. And I jumping ahead here, but since I mentioned YouTube, what can people find you on YouTube or where will it be available on YouTube?
We’ll have BG four by four Fest on YouTube. Okay. Very good. Instagram and Facebook too. And I probably just read it, but I sometimes I read and don’t don’t put it in my head. What is the BG of the BG four by four Fest? Bowling green, bowling green. See that makes sense. Uh, and I, I apologize before I asked the question. So a bowling green four by four. So BG four by four fest.com. So, um, and you know, I don’t know, uh, where exactly is this located?
Northwest Ohio. Okay. So Ohio, uh, it kind of makes sense because you’re, you’re over there close to, uh, Toledo Jeep Fest, right? Correct. Yeah. 20 minutes south. Okay. So that gives everybody a good idea. Now I’m in Southeast Texas. Uh, Texas is a really big state. So if it’s north of Texas, it’s all the same place to me.
My aunt from San Antonio, we’re about 24 hours from there. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Whitney with the Toledo Jeep Fest has said, you need to come up here. I said, I want to, it’s just like a six day drive.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, it’s a, it’s a nice place. I’ve been to Ohio before, but I flew. Um, so, uh, this is the first time you guys are doing this for, for the, the, the funsies, uh, that, and, and, and is this, do you think this is going to be an annual event or really does it just depend on how this one turns out? No, we want it to be annual. We’re going to keep growing from this. I’m sure there’ll be things that we learn and things we want to change, but we’re going to keep going and make this something a four by four enthusiasts want to do every year. Uh, and it’s not just Jeep. It’s any four by four can go out there and do it. Right. Yep. Correct. So Broncos, four runners trucks, anything like that. So, uh, do you have a, a, a wrecker, uh, available for the Broncos whenever the, the tie rods break and the wheels turn in. Yep.
Bronco owners are used to me, uh, given a large time. Um, so, uh, is, is, what else does the BG four by four fest do? Is this your first event and your first activity or do you have other things that you do? This is the first one. It’s taken us about a year to plan. Isn’t that the case though, because there’s so much stuff that you have to do. Uh, and I would think just getting the food trucks out there, the right food people out there, cause you do, you definitely don’t want to have the wrong food people out there. Uh, cause it’s going to be, what kind of, I didn’t, just because I’m a foodie, uh, what, uh, what kind of food are you guys planning on having out there? Assuming you’ve already scheduled them. Yes. We have a couple of barbecue trucks. We have some lemonade trucks and we have, um, just regular fair food type things. We have slushies, soft pretzels. So, so the corn, yeah. Oh nice. So the, uh, the barbecue, is it proper barbecue or is it pork?
Um, it’s proper barbecue. There’s two trucks. Well you know about Texas, right? And the beef, it’s barbecue in Texas is beef. Right? So very good. I mean, there’s, I mean, there’s nothing wrong with pork. I don’t like the pork barbecue. I’m all the way all about the, uh, the, the beef, uh, barbecue. Now I want barbecue. I’m sure they have both.
Uh, well very, very cool. So, uh, the, um, tell me more about the event you got stuff out there for food. You’ve got, uh, I would assume you got stuff for, for kids. Oh, the park and shine. If you want to be part of the park and shine, how do you get into, into that? I guess you would go to BG four by four fest.com and sign up. Yep. We have a registration page for all of our events that you can do that day. So it’s free for the family to come, but anybody that wants to participate, um, and in the events we have a small fee just to help offset costs. And then we also, um, all the funds that we raise are going towards scholarships in wood county. So anybody can attend, uh, but the, the other activities like the, the, the, uh, the show and shine will, will be a small fee. That’s nice. It’s $5 and then you can register ahead of time, but we’ll also take a registration set day and it’ll be in the front part of our fairgrounds. How will you, how will you be able to take a payment? I mean, a $5 credit card payment is kind of rough, but will you guys be able to take a plastic? I mean, if there, if people are like me, I don’t carry cash any longer. I know. Right. Me either. So we’ll have all options. Good. Excellent. Um, so, uh, what’s going to be out there for the kids? I mean, there’s food, there’s also the, uh, you know, the tractor pulls. Oh, uh, I’m thinking, I know in, in like a four or four by four events, like tractor pulls and that type of thing, it can be quite loud. I would assume that you’re not anticipating it being that loud, but would ear protection still be a good idea for, for the kids? Um, probably if they’re going to be by the track where the sled pull is going on, then some of those trucks can get pretty loud. And I would assume there’s the trucks, but yeah, yeah, I would assume some of the trucks, they’re going to come out there ready to, ready to rumble that they’re actually going to have, uh, you know, headers, uncapped and actually purpose built for stuff like this. So, uh, yeah, that’d be really cool. And is anybody, uh, not, uh, how do you get into the tractor pull? Do you just show up or is it also a registration process? It’s also registration. Um, we can kind of keep track and keep it flowing and keep the timing going. Well, and also too, it gives you an idea how many, how many people are potentially showing up to do this. Uh, and, uh, so what time does this, uh, this, this start, uh, 10 a.m. is when the official event starts. Uh, we’re going to do a convoy through downtown before that. So we’ll start that around nine 30, um, head through downtown and end up at the fairgrounds around 10. And then it goes until five o’clock at night. Now is that also part of the registration process? Maybe that you want to be part of the parade or not. And, uh,
and is there anything specific that you need to keep in mind? I would think that you need to keep in mind that you need to be street legal if you’re going to be driving through downtown. Yep. Yep. And it’s a convoy, not a parade. So we’re not going to like stop traffic. You’re going to start on one end and we’ll drive through, um, to the fairgrounds. Oh, that’s good to know. Cause I know it to the Toledo G Fest. People just run through the red lights and you don’t want to be doing that here.
There’s only a couple though. Go through, um, from one end to the other, but,
um, so, uh, okay. So the, the, do we go to the B G four by four fest.com to sign up, uh, for the, uh, the, the, the show and shine, the park and shine show. Um, you got food vendors, oh, kids activities. What do you have for, for the kids to do? Um, so we got, we’re going to have drag racing for kids. Some instant to come out and do that. And then we also have a kitty sled pole. So will you have the dresses? Will you have the dresses for them to wear or should they bring their own? Oh, good. You got it.
So drag racing, what are they going to be? What are they going to be drag racing? Are they going to be in like little, um, Mattel cars or yeah. Uh, there’s going to be some fights. Somebody’s going to slam somebody into the wall in the bounce house. No bounce houses too. They can do that in there. And I would assume this is also potentially a YouTube thing, uh, where you have the kids drag racing. Cause I think that’d be funny. Um, good mix, a good edit mix of a drag racing and sled pulling. Right. And we’re going to have a mud pit too. So there’s, there’ll be some video for that for cars. So, oh, okay. I was going to say then the kids, it’s going to be $5 to hose them off.
All right. So now anyway, oh, and a vendor row, do you, do you know what vendors will be out there yet? Um, we do have them listed on our website. Um, so there’ll be, uh, Dana camping world, bass pro, Cornwall tools, who Cornwall, I saw those guys on how it’s made. They, they have some really nice tools.
So we’re trying to get a mix of everything. Um, anything four by four related, anything, things you can purchase there for your vehicle, stuff like that. Dana’s a big one. Um, so, uh, that’s really cool. So the, you’ve got the vendors there, you got the park and shine, which is always good. It gives people a good way of, uh, of getting in. Would that be the, uh, like the preferred parking? Cause I’m, I know some places it’s kind of nice, like to lead a G Fest. It might be hard to find a parking spot, but if you get in the parade, now you have a nice place to park. Is that, uh, kind of the thing here with, with, with you guys, where it’s, uh, you might want to get into the, uh, the park and shine simply because it’s, uh, you get great parking. Right inside the fairgrounds. Yeah. Yeah. That’s a good place to park and then we’ll park around the track also for the, um, sled pole. And then the fairgrounds has big, a big parking lot across the street. So anybody that’s just coming to, um, check it out with your family or not in the convoy or something like that, then there’s parking, um, ample parking available there. Now, once you’re in the park and shine, I would imagine you encourage them to stay there and not like leave because of the traffic. Yeah. People walking around. So, uh, how long is the event you start at 10 a.m. Uh, for the, the start of the actual event, uh, and how late into the day, uh, we’ll do five PM is when we’ll finish. Um, I’m kind of assuming maybe around four, so we’ll start wrapping up and getting out of there. Um, if they do need to leave, then we’ll, we’ll have people volunteers all around like directing traffic and making sure it’s all safe. But you should plan. You should plan on being there if you can. Yeah. Um, so are you guys going to be doing any kind of judging of vehicles in the parking shine and will there be any kind of awards, maybe a different, uh, poker chip?
Yeah. Um, I think we’ll do like a best of show and we’ll have participants pick that. So we’ll do a place based on, um, people that are coming to look at them and what they like. Okay. Well, really cool. Uh, so what am I missing here about the, about the event? We got a sled pole, which I think is very interesting because you know, a lot of people see that and you know, there’s always somebody there in the stands going, I can do that if I wanted to. Well, that’s what our hope is. Right. I can go further than that. I can do this better with my car. Yeah. Finally, it’s my time.
So, uh, was there anything else that, uh, about the, about the event that, uh, that I’m missing here that you want to mention? I think you got most of it covered. We have, uh, the convoy, the park and shine, the sled pole, the mud pit we mentioned, and then, um, food trucks, kids activities, but we’re, and what we’re doing all this for was a way for all of us to come together and give back to our community. Um, so we’re a 501 C three nonprofit, and we’re going to give, um, all the profits to scholarships for, um, trade schools and agriculture. That’s a big, um, area for us in Wood County. So that’s great. Uh, Jeepers are quite often involved in a lot of things like this. So this is, uh, this is good to hear. I think everybody appreciates that. And then, and it’s not just, uh, it’s not easy to do these things. There’s all kinds of things and there’s all kinds of issues. Yeah. And there’s all kinds of issues at the event too. So, uh, you know, it’s a great, thank you. So it’s, it’s free to get in. Uh, if you want to be part of the park and shine, it’s $5. Uh, is the, anything, is there any charge for the sled pole being actually pulling the sled? Yeah. The sled pole is 15.
The mud pit is 15 and the convoy is 45 and includes a t-shirt. Oh nice. Um, so, uh, good. So we got all that down. Now let me ask you about you yourself personally. Do you do any four by four? Do you, are you an off-road type person?
Um, not really. Uh, my family owns a dealership in town. So we, we sell all of those four by fours, um, and service, all those four by fours. So, um, what’s the dealership?
They’re family dealerships. And I got to ask, and I mean, I’m sure they sell more than Jeeps there, but I got to ask. So no interest in getting in a Jeep and seeing what it’s all about. Uh, yeah, there is an interest and I will, my daughter has a Jeep. So I’m going to take hers and try it out and anything we have around the dealership, I’ll probably grab my husband drives a Bronco. So we’ll, we’ll be out there.
Did your husband have a Jeep prior or did he start his four four by four with a Bronco? Uh, we’ve always had trucks. So the Bronco is just kind of a fun car. Um, so, uh, and I think you just said it. I’m an apologize for brain farting. What, uh, what brand trucks have you had? What, uh, is it had been Ford Chevy, a mixture or? Yeah, we have a Chevy, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Honda, and Chrysler products. So a little bit of everything. I, I’m a Chevy girl. I started working here and it’s my family’s first store. So, um, how long, how long have you been working there?
Long time. Oh, okay. Okay. I got it. So through high school and college. So my next question was going to be how old are you, but I’ll skip that one.
So my first, my first four wheel drive was an 83 Chevrolet, uh, short wheel base. Uh, it was a single tone, uh, not, not the two tone. I didn’t care for those things. Uh, four by four, it was a great, well, I say it was a great truck. I loved that truck, but the, the, the engine was crap. The transmission was crap. I think the axles were okay. Uh, but I bought a four inch lift and a 37 inch tires on that. And it was, it was a lot of fun. Perfect to bring to our park and shine. Oh yeah. No. And, uh, I don’t have it anymore, unfortunately, but, um, it was, uh, the beloved square bodies and I’ve just been really lucky picking the right vehicles. And I just, I just wanted to, uh, uh, and I was a Chevrolet truck person. It wasn’t my first truck. It was my first four wheel drive truck. And, uh, boy, heaven, uh, if I had it now, it would just be way expensive, uh, for somebody to buy it. Not that I would sell it, but it was a midnight blue and people would look at it and try to figure out if it was black or blue. So yeah, it was a fun truck, but yeah, I’m, uh, definitely I really enjoy the Chevrolet trucks. I’m not such a big fan of the modern day Chevy trucks. The, the design on them kind of looks kind of hokey, but then again, I’m, you know, I’m coming from the square body, uh, the trucks. Right. And they, yeah, I, they change them all the time. And I, well they have to don’t think, right. And that someday those will be what everybody wants or what everybody was, you know, it’s what you, it’s what you remember, what you see, or you’re, some experience that you had in that, that vehicle is part of it. So absolutely. Yeah. And that, that is a cool thing. You’re, you guys are actually selling memories and, and, uh, hopefully good memories, uh, things that people will look back on and go, Oh, I remember that, uh, that, that model Chevy truck. And, uh, I did this, I went camping, I went over landing and went off road. Um, so, uh, yeah, and that, that’s very much the same way of a Jeep. So we kind of get you into a Jeep. I bet you, you would just love being a Jeep. Well, that’s another thing I should mention. We do have camping available that weekend as well. Oh yeah.
It’s not listed, but it’s something, um, we’re offering and it can be the whole weekend.
Very cool. So the event is only one day, right? So people could come in on Friday or.
Yes, they can come in on Friday. They can stay Friday night, Saturday night if they want. And what is there to do, uh, outside of the event? Like if they were going to camp there for the weekend, what is there to do? Um, we, we have a very cute little downtown with a bunch of shops and, um, dining. Um, we have BGSU the university here. So if there’s any sports games going on that weekend or anything like that, there’s some, and then we’re, we’re just, I mean, they’re shopping all over to 20 minutes from Toledo. So, how far is that? Is that walking distance or would they need to drive their vehicle from the campsite to do this? Um, it’s a few miles. It’s not, I mean, it would take five minutes in a car probably. So, yeah. So don’t take your vehicle, but yeah, I’m just asking if somebody’s planning on camping out your, yeah, if somebody’s camping out, you’re going to be taking your vehicle to go, to go into this, uh, this place. Well that sounds really, really cool. Um, so, um, yeah, I mean, I think that this sounds like a great event. Uh, it’s available for everyone. Uh, if you’re, if you’re bringing kids, especially little kids, uh, remember to bring them some ear protection, even if it’s just the, the, the plugs that you use in a shooting range, that would be good. But, uh, maybe some little, uh, uh, head, headsets that you could put on. I would imagine that even that they probably already have headsets that they listen to things on. Those will probably work fine. You just, you just want to make sure that you’re blocking that, uh, that potential noise. Uh, I took my boys to a, uh, uh, uh, one of those, uh, it was funny cause it was a four by four, it was a monster truck event. And this is before they started flying through the air. This is whenever they would just drive up and over things, but it was extremely loud and I didn’t even think about it. And, uh, we were, we’re up there fairly close. So that’s one of the reasons why I mentioned this is that I’ve lived through it. Yeah. And that’d be a good thing for us to give away and have on hand too. Yeah, it is. That is a good idea. Yeah. I just don’t know if the, uh, if the pistol range ones would fit a small children’s ears, uh, it would help in anything that’s going to block that noise coming straight in will help. Right. All right. So we talked about the, uh, the dealership, we talked about your hatred for Jeeps. Uh, we talked about your,
that’s funds Bronco, uh,
park and shine. They’re fun. We use them all. My daughter has the Jeep. What does she have? Do you know what, what make, I mean, we know it’s Jeep, but what model? Yeah. The Wrangler, uh, 17 Wrangler sport, I think. So is that the JK? I think 2018 was the switch over year, uh, where they had both JKs and JLs. So, um, yeah, well, oh, and more importantly, what color is it? It’s silver. I see. The proper color is red. Proper color is always red. Right. So what is it? I think you said, what do you drive? You drive a pickup.
I have a Chevy Tahoe. Okay. How do you like that? I love it. Oh, I’m sorry. I’m asking you and you’re going to say, you’re going to say, Oh no, it sucks. I wouldn’t buy one of these things. Oh, wait a minute.
No, I like it. So is that like an SUV style where you have, uh, uh, it’s kind of like a, um, like a Bronco, like the old Broncos where you have the rear seating and the covered area type thing. So yeah. Yeah. Uh, have you ever three rows for the kids and all their equipment? Yeah. Have you ever had a, uh, a truck with a bed that you drove around in? I mean, sure you’ve driven one, but have you ever owned? Yeah. Not, not as a personal car. No. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess it all depends on, uh, well, what was your first vehicle? What did you get first? I mean, especially working at a dealership, what was the first vehicle you got? It was a Toyota Celica.
Well, you, you got to sell Toyota. So you didn’t get kicked out of the family. Okay. Good. Uh, yeah, those things are very good. They, they really build them very nice. It’s a great commuter car. One of the things I love, and I love this about full size pickups and a lifted jeeps is, uh, if you’re on the highway, you can see what’s going on. The cars are really nice. They’re real easy to make go. You don’t have to put as much fuel in them, but you’re kind of in a hole, especially if you’re in traffic, uh, bumper to bumper traffic, you’re just looking at the SUV that’s in front of you. That’s all you can see. Right.
So that’s what I like sitting up and seeing out and, Oh yeah, it’s really nice. Especially when I had that, uh, that 83 pickup, cause that, uh, that 83 with this, the four inch lift was, uh, was sky high. I think it came up, uh, the mid thigh on the door jam came up mid thigh. And I would literally have to actually have to use the steering wheel to pull myself up and get in there. Um, I remember the first time I went through a, uh, a drive-through, I think it was McDonald’s and, uh, you don’t think about it until you get one of these things. It’s kind of a chore to reach down and take your order. Um, and if you’re getting a drink, it’s, it can be quite dangerous. Not, not for me, but for the person that I’m dumping it on, but it was a, it was a lot of fun. And, uh, I’ve, I’ve learned that, uh, Jeeps are more, uh, a better off road vehicle because those full size pickups, beautiful love trucks, but they’re not so good in twisty trails. Uh, you need to have something kind of a small and nimble. So, uh, yeah, I really enjoyed that. Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. So, uh, tractor pool, uh, convoy, I think the convoy is going to be neat. Um, and you said it was $45 to be in the convoy. Yep. And that includes the event t-shirt. And then you will, uh, when you sign up for this at, uh, uh, B G four by four or four X four Fest, I think everybody knows what the bias, uh, B G four X four Fest.com. Uh, there’ll be a, uh, something on there that tells you when you need to be there, uh, where you need to go, uh, to get an email with that information. Once we have all the registrations complete, um, where to start lining up and we’ll have goodie bags to pick up and, um, coffee, donuts, that kind of stuff to start the day. Oh, nice. Very nice. Yeah. And so that’s, I’m glad you mentioned the email cause people are getting kind of bad about email with all the spam and stuff. So once you get signed up, you’re going to have to remember to check your email, uh, and maybe, uh, but, but, uh, uh, B G four by four Fest.com on your list of, uh, non spammers. Right. That’s a good idea. All right, Rachel, you know how the kids love the social media. They had to see the pictures. They don’t want to read nothing. They just want to see pictures. Uh, where, where can we find you guys on social media? We’ve mentioned B G four by four Fest dot com, which is the website, which is where you need to go, especially when you get signed up and, uh, uh, relive all the details we just went over, but, uh, social media, where can we find you? We have B G four by four Fest on Facebook, B G four by four Fest on Instagram and on YouTube. Well, that makes it really simple. I feel always feel bad for the folks that they have something that’s like too common or something, and then they’ve got to put ones or the real or all that stuff into it. So it’s, it’s good. You guys got it that way. Well, a lot of luck on this event. Um, I’m, I’m not saying there’s going to be, uh, carnage, uh, but I bet you there’s going to be some carnage carnage. So you’re gonna, you’re gonna have to watch YouTube to find out. And, uh, I would assume, I would assume the, the, the videos and stuff will be on, uh, up on your site shortly after the event.
So, uh, we’ll all be looking and I’m sure you guys got stuff there now that you can look at. So, uh, head over to YouTube and look for a B G four by four Fest.com with the tractor pulls, um, over the weekend. And then the truck pulls with, uh, a couple of weeks ago at our fair. Um, there’s some footage there, no carnage, but I’m not saying there isn’t, but there may be. So you have to go look,
Rachel, thank you so much for being with us today and have a great time and a great event. Thank you. Maybe one year you can make it up from Texas. Absolutely.
Thank you. Thank you.