Jeeplahoma: a ‘Duck Tale’

When you’re amongst a field of Jeep enthusiasts and their vehicles, you’ll often see a sea of rubber ducks.

They’re a sign of respect and kindness in the community of aficionados.

In the parking lot of the Old Plantation Restaurant Saturday in Medicine Park, you could say things were as cool as water on a duck’s back.

Seated under a canopy with fellow Jeep enthusiast and friend Mike Campbell, of Midwest City, Steve Peck, of Hinton, is all smiles next to his custom ride called “Li’l Waspy.” As with most of the vehicles staged for this year’s Jeeplahoma event, their vehicles were loaded with little rubber ducks.

Peck, who got his first Jeep in 1980, has had the various models of the unique vehicles in his collection since then. He said “Li’l Waspy” is one of three he owns currently. He’s collected his fair share of ducks. In knowing the true origin of the trend, you could say he has his ducks in a row when asked about it.

The lore of the rubber ducks begins in 2020, according to Peck. He knows. The originator has been his friend until her untimely passing a couple of weeks ago at the age of 38. He’s happy to keep her story alive to complement her legacy.

“The lady who started it is Allison Parliament,” he said. “She is one of my best friends in the world.”

As Peck tells it, Parliament was a fellow Jeepster. She’d bought a bunch of ducks to play a prank on her boyfriend one night. But when she got home, she saw a Jeep that caught her eye. She had to act and let its owner know she thought it was cool.

Parliament, from Ontario, Canada, left one of those rubber ducks on the Jeep along with a note that simply read, “I like your Jeep.” The owner was a “big ol’ lumberjack who saw her and thought she was messing with his Jeep, Peck said. Then he read the note: “Nice Jeep.”

“He bent down and told her, ‘thank you so much,’” he said.

From there, the DuckDuckJeep movement was born. Peck said it began as just a moment from his friend whom he would stay with while traveling that generated something so much more. It came during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and created something wonderful, he said.

“She believed the world needed a little kindness and that’s just what that movement is based on,” he said.

Campbell said there’s something special about the Jeep owner’s community; he likened it to the fellowship of Harley-Davidson motorcycle fans. He said when he began working at Tinker Air Force Base in the 1980s, there were only him and an airman who owned Jeeps. That’s changed.

“I’ve been with Jeeps when Jeeps weren’t even cool,” he said. “Now it’s full of Jeeps.”

Peck said the annual Jeeplahoma event is something special. First off, you get to hang out and enjoy time with “your people” and “talk about Jeep stuff.” You also get to do some off-roading and see the land in a new way.

And when it’s over, you return home feeling “just ducky.”