Tops off, doors off – it is Jeep season.

From the 100 block of Washington, through the square, to the 200 block of Jackson, the city of Mexico prepares for the first “Jeep Thing” June 28.

“The concept is basically to get a bunch of Jeep people together to have a good day,” said Barb Jones, co-owner of Salty Heifers Co. “Really, the Jeep people will just visit, talk and check out each other's Jeeps.”

Barb and her co-owners Jacie Jones and Lindsy Swaim have been meeting with the Village Square Association to pitch the new event and discuss the vision, and they secured a $2,000 grant from the Mexico Tourism Tax for advertising.

“We met with VSA, we met with the three of us, to come up with some ideas on what we wanted it to look like and our overall goal, and we’ve just kind of built upon that,” Barb said.

Their goal is to try something different and bring people and their business to the square.

Barb and Jacie are involved “Jeepers” who are immersed in the community. They travel across the state to attend as many Jeep events as they can.

“We already have reservations from Texas, Minnesota, Iowa (and) Illinois,” Barb said.

“People will come from all over,” Jacie added.

The Jeep Thing will be similar to a Jeep Invasion but with a few twists.

“We want it to be something that is very inviting to the Jeep community so we are going above and beyond maybe what a lot of other Jeep events would have that is more geared towards the individual Jeeps,” Barb said

One key thing that makes any Jeep event so special are the rubber ducks. That is what Barb and Jacie are looking forward to the most.

“The ducks are simply an act of kindness in the Jeep community,” Barb said. “If you go somewhere and you see a Jeep, you put a duck on their door handle and the goal is just to put a smile on somebody’s face.

And there will be tons of ducks at the Jeep Thing. Participating businesses will have custom rubber ducks that represent their personal styles.

The Jeep Thing will feature various Jeep competitions judged by Jeep enthusiasts Bud Gardner of Capital City Krawlers, Lucas Jones of Atlas Automotive, Jordan Hilbert of Dauntless Offroad and Randy Newport of Randy’s Auto Repair.

There will be a “show and shine” at 2 p.m., a cruise lining up at 4 p.m. and a light show at 6 p.m.

While it may seem like the event is geared toward Jeep owners, the Jeep Thing is for everyone, and Jacie said they want it to be family friendly.

“We will have a tremendous amount of raffle options,” Barb said. “There will be a parade of Jeeps that will leave the square at 4 p.m.”

There will also be a designated kid area in the Jefferson Street Mini-Park.

“We will have games, a snow cone truck and whatever activities we can come up with over there,” Barb said.

Jeep owners who pay to park their Jeep on the square and participate in the Jeep Thing will receive a “swag bag” full of donations from local businesses.

Proceeds from the Jeep Thing will go to support the Missouri Veterans Home as well as Mainstreet Mexico.