Sherry Peckens and Levi Johnson

Hey Joe...I'm typing up my perspective, but Levi is not here to add his VW stories that existed before he and I got together. I just know that when I first met him, and he mentioned a VW, I knew he would be my person! Also, I have pictures of all the cars if needed. Let me know if there is anything else you need.

Levi and Sherry, the owners of TrippinSeed Tie Dye and the musicians behind The Social Mosaic. Levi was raised around VDubs his entire life, and Sherry just loved them from infancy. (My first car was a 1973 Super Beetle that I bought for $775 with the help of my Dad) Levi and I together have owned 4. Our first (together) was a 1966 Beetle that is currently being rebuilt as the Parkinson's Suicide Awareness Bug by Ryan Berg who purchased her from us. We had two 1975 Buses, one transporter and a Westy that were both taken from us without our permission after Katrina. We had to park them at a friend's house for a little while and when we went back to get them, the house and the vans were gone. I still have the titles. :( The 75 transporter was Levi's baby.

When we sold the 66 bug, we were still trying to build our tie dye business and didn't have the time or money to repair her, and she was just sitting under a carport. We couldn't just let her rot, so we decided to sell.

I (Sherry) just didn't want to let go of the VW community, so I worked for about 2 years to figure out how to tie dye the VW emblem. I figured it out, and now, we focus most of our energy on the VW community. We both agreed that we wanted to be surrounded by what we love, and that we wanted to contribute to these groups because they are dear to us. We are currently working on more, and new VW designs! We are also working to spread our tie dye vw love all over the U.S. to any and all clubs, shows, groups that will have us and our tie dye.

We are on the MS Gulf Coast and we regularly attend as vendors and donate merch to the local VW clubs, New Orleans Air Coolers, MS Gulf Coast VW Club, and Rare Air Emerald Coast in Pensacola, FL. We've become pretty close friends with the fellow dubbers as we continued to participate in the shows. They were always including us in their events, even though we were just the tie dye hippies.

Well, one of our friends (Mike Schillinger) created a VW for charity (Colorectal Cancer Bug) and man, I wanted that car. When I was checking it out, he noticed how badly I wanted to be a part of the VW community by having a car again. I remember saying to him that I would love to win the car and be part of the VW community again, then he said, but sherry, you are part of the VW community. I'll never forget that.

Levi and I just couldn't afford another VW, as we were raising a family, building a tie dye business, and also creating an art and music collaboration project called The Social Mosaic, all while working on recording our music and performing live.

Well, then, Mike decided to get the local clubs together and build us a beetle! It was dubbed the Tie Dye Bug Project. They kept this secret for a year, kept all the correspondence, and added so many personal touches to the car (which they gave it all to us when they gave us the car) Our band logo on the doors, paw prints all over representing our work with the local Humane Society, and finally, they painted it using one of our tie dyes as the focal art on the hood!! Each club that contributed also had to be represented by large decals on all the windows! Wow!! This happened at the "Buggin' the Beach VW Show" in Biloxi. March 22, 2025.

It was the end of the show, we were about to pack up, but I told Levi I had to see what car they had covered up. It was announced that they were unveiling a surprise car after awards. So, then, Mike called out my name, then Levi's name, and then proceeded to talk about us, about our history of philanthropy, music, donations to the cancer society, the humane society, and to the VW community. Then, he said he had a car for us. Speechless, amazed, and shocked. Well, the pics will speak for themselves.

Also, Mike wrote up a story that was published in the latest Volksmania Magazine!! I'm so amazed at the kindness, friendship, and closeness of everyone involved. And now, I get to drive a beetle, work on a beetle, and make everyone smile as I drive it anywhere and everywhere!! Of course, I am constantly smiling as I drive my "Owsley" named after Owsley Stanley that worked with the Grateful Dead and that everyone called "Bear", the marching bears were about him. Mike painted a tie dye bear on the hood of this amazing 1963 Volkswagen Beetle.

"Owsley the Beetle" is now our sweet little Tie Dye Mascot for TrippinSeed Tie Dye!!