A convoy of historic to modern military vehicles will make a mid-day stop for lunch at Gotte Park in Kimball on June 27. This unique convoy is retracing the route of the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy of 1919.The War Department of that era was moved ... “to search out the military capabilities of automobile and truck.” So a convoy of 81 vehicles, 37 officers and 258 enlisted men were sent off on this adventure. The convoy drove from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. It travelled the route of the Lincoln Highway. A certain Tank Corps Lieutenant Colonel by the name of Eisenhower was part of the convoy, going along as an observer.Now the 1919 convoy is being reenacted by members of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association. They left Washington D.C. on Saturday, June 13 and drove 108 miles to Chambersburg, Maryland where they will spend the night. They are scheduled to arrive in Kimball on Saturday, June 27, after bivouacking the preceding night in Ogallala. After lunching in Kimball, they will drive on to Cheyenne to spend the evening.Food for the lunch in Kimball will be provided by Main Street Market and served by VFW Post 2243.The convoy will likely be of unplanned length when it approaches Kimball. Any MVPA member in good standing can enter their restored military vehicle for a day several days or several hundred miles of convoy travel. The vehicle must be restored to its original outline and color, be in excellent mechanical condition and be covered by liability insurance. No non-military vehicles other than lead/chase/ supply vehicles will be allowed.Kimball residents are aware that the Eisenhowers’ stayed a night in the Wheat Growers Hotel during this adventure.Ike was stationed at Camp Meade, Maryland at the time. Mamie and their young son had stayed in Denver with Mamie’s parents because there were no suitable family quarters at Camp Meade. Ike heard about this expedition and volunteered to be on it.As he said, “Partly for a lark and partly to learn.”Mamie and her father drove from Denver to North Platte in her father’s Packard and met the truck train there. After a grand reunion, Mamie and her father drove with the convoy for several days. Therein lies the Kimball connection.Eisenhower loved to tell stories about the “genuine adventure” and he did so until the end of his life.And the “genuine adventure’ was instrumental in Ike pushing for the Interstate Highway System when he was President of the United States.  The interstate system has now been a reality for 40 or more years. I-80 runs by Kimball and the Lincoln Highway runs through Kimball. And the Wheat Growers Hotel still stands. Some of the military vehicles will be familiar to many. The grand reenactment is about to start. Details of Ike’s “genuine adventure” are from “Ike the Soldier” by Merle Miller.