Over 50 vintage military vehicles to roll through the area next week

    NATCHITOCHES, Louisiana (KTBS) -- The Military Vehicle Preservation Association has begun a transcontinental convoy that started Oct. 1 on the Minnesota border and will end 2,500 miles later at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

In between, the convoy, which includes more than 30 vintage military vehicles, will make stops in Mount Pleasant and Jefferson, Texas, Greenwood, Shreveport, Bossier, Mansfield, the Mt. Carmel Community in Sabine Parish and in Natchitoches.

This is the eighth convoy of its kind, but the first to travel on a north-south axis through the center of the country. Drivers are retracing the historic 1918 Jefferson Highway.

Here's a schedule of their estimated daily arrivals:

Tuesday:

9:15 a.m. at the Mid American Flight Museum in Mount Pleasant, Texas.

3:30 p.m. at Jefferson, Texas City Hall

Wednesday:

10 a.m. at the Greenwood Truck Stop.

11 a.m. at the American Legion Post No. 14 on Lakeshore Drive in Shreveport.

2:30 p.m. at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Bossier City.

4 p.m. at the old Walmart parking lot on U.S. Highway 84 in Mansfield for an overnight stay.

Thursday:

11:15 a.m. at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in the Mt. Carmel Community where the 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers Battle of Mt. Carmel took place. Historian Rickey Robertson will give a presentation on the battle. It is open to the public.

Friday:

8:30 a.m. at the Natchitoches Riverbank. Visitors can meet the drivers and learn more about their preservation efforts.

5 p.m., select vehicles will leave the riverbank to lead the Northwestern State University homecoming parade, which begins at Prather Coliseum at 5:30 p.m.

Residents who live along the Jefferson Highway are encouraged to display American flags.

A live tracker can be followed at mvpa.org/convoys

For more information on the Jefferson Highway and the 2024 MVPA Jefferson Highway Convoy, visit Natchitoches.com/Jefferson-highway