GONZOOKIN' |
East
Coast Suzuki Enthusiasts Gather at Paragon Adventure Park. |
Editor:
Eric Bewley Photo/Story: Jeff Johnson |
HAZELTON,
PA -This was the third year for the Suzuki 4x4 event called GONZOOKIN.
In the winter of 2000 a group of Suzuki enthusiasts decided the North East Suzuki owners
needed a large event closer to home. An event
in Massachusetts. called “Zookin” had just taken place and although it is a
fantastic event the land and campground limits the number of attendees to a maximum of 50
rigs. After some discussion on an internet
forum, we decided that a growing park in Pennsylvania might be worth looking into. Paragon Adventure Park in Hazleton, PA is home of
15,000 acres with some of the best and Diverse four wheeling on the East coast. It was
decided that this would be the home of the event.
This year was the third annual GONZOOKIN
event and has grown in every way conceivable. An event that started in 2001 with 20
attendees grew to more than 70 rigs. With the addition a competition this year sponsored
by CALMINI called the Top Zook Challenge, a ZUKIWORLD sponsored event dinner, and a large
vendor supported raffle coupled with Paragon’s awesome terrain, it was easy to see
why this event despite the weather was such a success.
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The TZC was coordinated by Tim Walters, AKA
Yankee Tim. Tim made arrangement with Calmini to sponsor the event, and the support
from Paragon to hold the event. The TZC started around 1:00 PM on Saturday with five teams
entered. The Teams consisted of a driver and a spotter. The spotter guided the driver down
a course of cones, weaving the rig around them down the trail. Each team received points
for stopping, reverse, missed gates, and knocking over the cones. The team with the least
points won. Spectators watched as each of the contestants used their own strategy to drive
their rigs Down the trail. |
Saturday evening was the
Event Dinner and Raffle. We used this as a
fund raiser for the event. Tom Regal, AKA boyIrish, volunteered to become the
official GONZOOKIN chef. Tom is in the
restraint business and used his resources to put on a huge spread. We had an all you could eat buffet with chicken,
sweet corn, and all kinds of assorted salads. The
food was excellent.
  
After dinner we had our first Official TZC
award ceremony along with event awards. Awards
went to the top 3 finishers of the TZC. With the Champion receiving a Calmini gift
certificate, and the Birfield Cup trophy. The
dinner and the raffle proceeds were excellent. They are being used to fund 2004’s
event.
All-in-all the wheeling was great and the
company was even better. The only thing more we
could have asked for was clear skies.
Click
here for information on next year's event
GONZOOKIN FORUM
   
   
   
   
  
Click
here for information on next year's event
GONZOOKIN FORUM
 ZW
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