Tony and Karen Bornhorst don’t have to be convinced about Jeeps. The Moore County residents are admins for a local club, Just Moore Jeeps, devoted to the vehicles and those who drive them.
The couple began running things for the organization after getting a green light from its founder, Jeff Allen. An Aberdeen resident, Allen started the club in October 2020.
With the Bornhorsts at the wheel, in a manner of speaking, club membership has climbed from 80 to more than 280 enthusiasts.
“We hope to reach 300 by the anniversary (of both the founding and when they started managing operations),” Tony Bornhorst, an Ohio native, said. “The majority come from Moore County, from one end of the county to the other. But we do have members from nearby areas.”
Unbeknownst to those who don’t drive Jeeps, owners have particular ways of communicating on the road and elsewhere.
“It’s kind of a cult,” Tony said. “They wave to each other in a certain way; they leave rubber ducks on your Jeep.”
Rubber ducks?
“That’s something that started during COVID,” Tony said. “It started with a woman in Michigan. It’s kind of gone viral.”
Basically, if someone likes a certain Jeep they encounter, they leave a rubber duck to show appreciation.
As admins for Just Moore Jeeps, the Bornhorsts, who have five children and five grandchildren, focus on keeping members in the loop about outings and charitable events.
“We have Jeeps — and we like to help people,” Tony, who attended Purdue, said.
Karen’s father had Jeeps when the native North Carolinian was in high school. She and Tony purchased their first Jeep together about 12 years ago.
“We’ve had one ever since,” Tony said.
The Bornhorsts also belong to a larger Jeep club in Charlotte. Being part of Just Moore Jeeps allows the pair to have much more input into group vision.
“We just want to help anyone we can,” Tony said. “If there’s a group that wants a group of people to show up, we’ll be there.”
Recently, Just Moore Jeeps came out to support the Irreverent Warriors silkie hike in Pinehurst. Irreverent Warriors is devoted to improving the mental health of veterans and preventing suicides by those who served the nation.
If Just Moore Jeeps can secure a change in tax status, it would stimulate even more philanthropic endeavors.
“We want to get to the point where we can accept money,” Tony said. “We’re trying to work up to that.”
To request to join the Just Moore Jeeps group Facebook page, please click on the link provided here.
Feature photo by Melissa Poole.
~Written by Sandhills Sentinel reporter Dave Lukow.
