First Florida Chapter of the MVPA

05/18/2026

We’re rolling into our next event on the schedule — D-Day: Invasion of Normandy at the Zephyrhills Museum of Military History.

Join us Saturday, June 7th from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with an opening ceremony at 11:00 AM, as we honor and remember the heroes of D-Day through a full day of living history, immersive displays, and powerful moments of reflection.

This is always one of our most impactful events of the year, and we’re excited to do it again with the incredible support of our community — so be sure to mark your calendars now.

Learn more here: https://zmmh.org/events

Want to be part of the event? Sign-ups are officially open. We’re actively looking for living history displays, military vehicles, and reenactors to help bring this moment in history to life.

Get involved here: https://zmmh.org/participation-forms

We’re looking forward to another strong turnout and can’t wait to see everyone out there.

05/09/2026

FYI

**Important Update Regarding Battle for Veterans**

It is with a very heavy heart that we share that the Zephyrhills Museum of Military History has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Battle for Veterans event Scheduled for Nov 7th and 8th.

This decision was not made lightly. Due to construction taking place in the City of Zephyrhills yard/sanitation area, a significant portion of the land normally used for Battle for Veterans will not be available.

We recently held a meeting with the City regarding the construction area and how it would affect the event. During that meeting, we were informed that the area already blocked off represents the minimum amount of land needed and that it must be considered an active construction zone. The City was also unable to provide a final amount of additional land that may be needed, and it was indicated that there is a strong possibility more land could be required beyond what has already been blocked off.

Unfortunately, the area already taken up is too much for us to confidently hold the event in the first place. With the possibility of even more land being needed, the museum board and everyone involved with Battle for Veterans had to make the difficult determination that we would not be able to provide the quality experience that our guests, veterans, reenactors, vendors, volunteers, and supporters have come to expect.

Rather than move forward with an event that would fall short of what Battle for Veterans has become, we believe the only responsible course of action is to cancel this year’s event and focus our efforts on bringing it back even stronger in 2027.

We are deeply saddened by this decision. Battle for Veterans has grown into an incredible event because of the amazing support from our community, veterans, living historians, vehicle owners, reenactors, vendors, sponsors, volunteers, and everyone who comes out each year to honor and remember. We know many people were looking forward to this year’s event, and we truly wish there had been another way to make it happen.

Please know that our other museum events throughout the year are still moving forward as scheduled and planned. We remain committed to honoring our veterans, preserving military history, and continuing to serve our community.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the museum directly.

Thank you again for your continued support, understanding, and dedication to the Zephyrhills Museum of Military History. We look forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming events and to making Battle for Veterans 2027 an even bigger and better experience for all.

05/09/2026

Just a quick update about FFC MVPA:
All of our organizational documents are now updated and available to download from our website: https://ffcmvpa.org/ffc-mvpa-organizational-documents/

If you would like to review the FFC MVPA By-laws, Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest Policy, or view our FL Tax Exempt Certificate and 501(C)(3) Certificate, all of those can be found and downloaded from our website.

If not using the direct link, you can get to that page from the bottom of the Home Page. There is a button that will navigate you directly to it. If you have any questions on these documents, contact Dave Thomas, Stan Kinmonth, or one of the other officers and they should be able to answer any questions you may have.
Thanks!

04/19/2026

An excellent day for FFC MVPA/WarJeeps in support of the 40th Anniversary Celebration for the First Coast Car Council! Over 100 classic cars of all types were displayed. All of the FFC MVPA WarJeeps entries won awards: Best Motorcycle for Eric’s ‘42 Indian, 1st Place for Eric’s ‘42 Slat, 2nd Place for Bobby Lentz’s 1943 Ford GTB bomb truck and 3rd Place for Watkins’ ‘45 GPW. Additionally, Bridget Leirvik’s Triumph TR-6 won Best Classic Import car! An excellent day, with excellent vehicles and excellent outcomes… a damn fine day indeed.

04/13/2026

Gentlemen!

For 40 years, the First Coast Car Council has provided a framework of cooperation and coordination of area car clubs. Charities have benefitted, Collector Car clubs associated with the Car Council have benefitted and the entire NE Florida area has benefitted from the efforts of the Car Council for four decades! Quite a feat and strong record of leadership and stewardship.



WarJeeps will help celebrate a major milestone for the First Coast Car Council by supporting the First Coast Car Council's 40th Birthday Car and Truck Show on SAT 18 APR.

04/09/2026

Gentlemen!
It is time for Jumbo Shrimp Baseball!
1. The Jumbo Shrimp became the 2025 Triple-A National Champions and as he has for many years, Mark Hooper has renewed our partnership with the baseball club to provide military vehicles for the 2026 Military Appreciation games.
2. In return for your vehicle display, you will receive 4 FREE tickets to ANY 2026 JUMBO SHRIMP GAME!
3. The POC is Mark Hooper – RSVP at [email protected] and enjoy some top shelf baseball!

04/08/2026

First Coast Car Council Award given to the FFC MVPA for Best Display in Show at Crusing to the Creek 4 OCT 2025.

04/08/2026

Originally posted 5 OCT 2025. The FFC MVPA was in full force and was awarded a prestigious award for the Best Club Display at the charity event for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Our group including a large selection of member vehicles organized by service branch and occpational specialties. Included in the photos below are images of USN aircraft operations vehicles, US Army combat support vehicles, mortar and machine gun fighting positions, HHC HQ operations area with motorcycle couriers with Military Police overwatch, and even a 37 MM anti-tank position. The Camp Blanding Museum display tents included many fine infantry weapons - many thanks to Greg and his presence. Of special note were two individual Best-in-Show awards. Bobby Lentz showed his 1 1/2 ton FORD GTB “Burma Jeep” G-622 bomb ordinance truck for the very first time and won! Eric Leirvik and his 1942 US Army Indian 742 Scout motorcycle won another Best-in-Show award. Our presence was the result of great operational planning by POC Leirvik and display prep work done on Friday afternoon and evening with Eric and Tom Philyaw spending the night onsite with periods of drizzle. A fine testament to the mission. We even had show cars and British imports with 2AMX muscle cars and a beautiful Triumph TR6. Well done to all! Enjoy the pictures to follow

02/21/2026

02/10/2026

We were honored to be requested to provide a full vehicle and living history exhibit for the inaugural Veteran Outreach Event at Florida State College Jacksonville. FSCJ Eecutive Director of Veterans Affairs, LTC Meshaw Culyer - Ret., US Army, coordinated a fine event to welcome veterans to FSCJ and to promote FSCJ’s commitment to the local veteran community. Tom Philyaw set up a top-shelf wall tent exhibit of period-correct WW2 infantry field gear. Additionally, we had a new particpant whose father was a DDay veteran of an artillery battalion who fought his way across France and Germany. Harry brought a great collection of his father’s wartime gear to display. Period vehicles were provided by Eric Leirvik( 1941 Slat MB and 1942 Indian cycle, 2 vehicles), Robert Fowler A. Watkins, along with Tom’s ‘43 GPW. An active duty Hummer with Army recruiters rounded out our display area. There was also an FSCJ Basketball game which the FSCJ Manta Rays won. All in all, a fine day in support of a worthy military education and service event. Thanks to all that attended.