Brush Beaters Jeep Club to host Wheelin' 4 Toys this weekend

For the past 10 years, the second weekend in December has been marked on calendars of area rock crawlers as the annual toy drive and this year is no exception.

The Brush Beaters Jeep Club will host the 11th annual Wheelin' 4 Toys at the Kansas Rocks Recreation Park from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10. The event will consist of guided and unguided trail rides. Admission is $5, plus a donation of a children's toy valued at $5 or more.

Don VanBuskirk, president of Brush Beater Jeep Club, said Wheelin' 4 Toys was created as a way for rock crawling enthusiasts to do something they love while helping area children at the same time.

"A lot of us guys that are off-road guys are kids in spirit anyway, so they want to help out other kids so they can have a good Christmas, too," he said.

The event will feature trail rides in the woods at the Kansas Rocks Recreation Park, located at 2051 130th St., Mapleton. VanBuskirk said novice drivers or those new to the park have the option of participating in a guided trail ride, however, the deadline has passed to sign up for guided rides. Despite that, he said, those interested can still show up and participate with the donation of a toy.

"Even though the registration has passed ... anybody can still show up the day of the event and provide a toy," he said. "A lot of guys just come in with their buddies in groups of three or four and they just go trailing on their own."

In addition to the trail rides, VanBuskirk said a raffle will be held at about 1 p.m. for more than $1,000 in prizes that are "anything trail related or tool related."

The slate of events has been kept sparse, according to VanBuskirk. Unlike their other competitions where there is a great deal of activity going on, there will not be much for spectators to view with the exception of the raffle drawing, he said.

"We try to keep the thing simple, mainly because we want to keep our eye on the main objective -- the kids and the toys," he said.

Wheelin' 4 Toys usually draws about 250 people with 100 vehicles.

Along with Missouri and Kansas, the event often attracts participants from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Ohio. Weather is always a factor that must be considered, but the only thing that really keeps the drivers away is ice, VanBuskirk said.

"If it's snow, that doesn't seem to hold up anybody," he said. "If it's a good day or a snow day, we'll definitely have 100 to 150 vehicles."

VanBuskirk said the Brush Beaters Jeep Club has sought the help of the Fort Scott Rotary Club for distribution of the toys.

He said they usually have two truckloads of goodies given to the Fort Scott Rotary Club, which then separates them by gender and age appropriateness.

They then find families with children in need and deliver the toys.