genuine quote from a happy camper after returning home from “On the Rocks 2003”
“A gathering of eagles” is one poetic vision of a group of people coming together to achieve a common goal. Well, “On the Rocks” is like that, only we’ll call it a gathering of buzzards. We DO have a recurring theme in the logo (designed by Don Roy of Hudson Valley Four-Wheelers), appropriate to our fun. In fact, as I rolled into Paragon Park on Sunday morning the 24th of August, the last day of wheeling at On the Rocks 2003, a pair of vultures was circling over the park; a good omen for us. Amazingly, on this weekend I had already ‘wheeled more consecutive hours at PAP without cutting a sidewall or bending a tie-rod than I had ever done, and managed to finish the third day of ‘wheeling in the same condition. My wheels were tracking as straight on the ride home as they did on the ride out. A personal accomplishment.
The weekend really started Thursday evening as several members of Hudson Valley Four Wheelers, Eastern 4-Wheelers and Long Island Off-Road Club rolled into Hazleton to help with registration check-in at the Genetti Lodge. It would make sense to save all the thanks and personal mentions to the end, but as I am a product of the sixties with great propensity to forget things not immediately in front of me, I will mention them as they come to me for fear of forgetting later and leaving someone out. Props to Joan Blair from LIOR for her non-stop selling of raffle tickets, it was a tremendous help. Bill and Mary Myers, and Bud and Jeanne Cleveland all from Hudson Valley Four-Wheelers, manned the check-in booth for the entire weekend as well. Don Roy from HV4W also helped out by sorting the T-shirts and preparing the piles for distribution. Paul Taranto from Eastern 4 Wheelers ran the inspection station where rigs were checked for equipment and then rated for the trails, with some assistance from Bobby Coco of LIOR and John Merril of E4W. And thanks to LIOR members Dorothea Lester and Alex Danyluk for being there and generally available for the little things. Check-in Thursday night was smooth and pleasant. After a trail-guide meeting at 8:30 pm we headed out for eats at Damon’s, where we took up a large table and a booth. I’m not sure who started it, but at one point food seemed to be traveling through the air with increasing velocity. If my Mom was there she’d have been yelling at us. Everyone fell into bed to wake Friday morning to blanketing humidity and glaring sun.
By 10:00am I had sweated through my hat. I took out the Green or the “easy” trails. On the first day I had quite a group, ranging from true beginners to those of us who had just finished repairs or modifications and wanted to try them on easier trails before giving the new equipment a workout on the tougher trails. We had a great day, working our way through trails that increased in difficulty as the day progressed. No damage on my trails. I led, Bob Blair in his newly refurbished Scout-Willys hybrid (we think it will be named Jethro; y’gotta see this truck to understand) ran tailgunner, and Dave Brill from Eastern 4 Wheelers rode along in the middle of the pack to help out.
Dave was not in his truck. Dave’s truck has never made it to Paragon. This is the third time he’s tried to wheel PAP, and the third time something went wrong. This time his little Toyota, Toxic Turtle, was sitting at home with a shredded fuel line. We finished up our trails and headed out of the park at about 4:00 pm, and were among the last of the On the Rocks trails to get out. As I rolled into the Genetti Lodge parking lot I saw Paul Taranto’s head bobbing happily in the pool, seeking the cool of the water after the hot dust of PAP. (By the way, the rest of Paul was there too, but below water level). Paul had the behind the scenes task of recruiting our trailguides and setting up the trails. Even though numbers shifted rapidly as registration progressed Paul did a terrific job, as did all our trailguides: Kevin Semanoff (E4W), Paul Taranto(E4W), Chris Smith(E4W), Dave Brill(E4W), Doug Abrams(LIOR), Bob Coco(LIOR), Bill Myers(HV4W), Martin Pennington(HV4W), Jerry Rouvrais(E4W), Mike Cracco(E4W), John Merrill(E4W), and Bob Blair (LIOR).
I had just enough time to clean up and head down to the check-in area to man the raffle ticket booth and get my dinner at the On the Rocks Big Barbecue. From 5:00pm to 8:00pm, as more people rolled in to check in, and others tested the flex on the 20degree ramp (provided by LIOR, and many thanks to Bob “Two-Jeeps” Coco for transporting, setting up, and breaking down the ramp), we also had the Big BBQ in the check-in area. By 10:00pm the parking lot had emptied, most people were back to their rooms to sleep off the heat of this day, and prepare for more tomorrow. Saturday dawned clear and cool. The weather change that blew through the night before dumped rain all around us while sparing us from the direct downpour. The weather was perfect. After checking in a few more participants, we headed over to PAP for another day of great trailriding. Here I have to throw another thanks to Dave Brill. He had planned on heading out with some of the tougher trails on this day, but agreed to ride along with us to give me hand guiding the easier trails. Thanks, Dave. We did stop by the side of Rattler’s Tail (a pretty challenging black trail) to watch for a bit. Hope it was enough for Dave. After another almost perfect day on the trails we headed back over to Genetti Lodge to get cleaned up for the On the Rocks Big Banquet.
And what a banquet. Bar opened at 7:00pm; dinner was served at 7:30. Roast beef, chicken marsala, flounder Florentine were the main courses with loads of side dishes to round out a great feast. And, of course, if you get a room full of people someone is going to get up to talk. Erika Smith made a few remarks about Region D business and thanked the OTR Coordination Committee for the fine job is setting up this fantastic weekend. Dave Brill, EC4WDA Land Use Officer, made a few remarks about the importance of awareness and activism in maintaining public lands for public use, and then it was time for the awards ceremony.
Don Roy was presented with a special certificate of appreciation for all the work he did behind the scenes to get this whole thing going. Don designed the logo, acquired the T-shirts and dash plaques and along with Bill Myers provided most of the raffle prizes, aside from general organizational and other kinds of help to the committee. Don was really the driving force that got this weekend accomplished.
Kevin Semanoff was presented with the Isaac Newton Award, for most persistent attempts to transcend the laws of gravity, for launching his XJ a good 30 feet through the air, with at least 8 to 10 feet of air beneath him. By the way he also earned a Bonehead award for that as well. Despite the extremity of his feat, it wasn’t an easy choice, believe it or not. Martin Pennington at one point was actually in the lead for this award for his durability test on the roof of his roll cage. On tape it was a delightful roll, sort of slowly lifting to the right, pausing for that oh so important “Kodak moment” and then toppling on over backwards to the right in a gentle roll that damaged nothing (except, perhaps, Martin’s BVD’s).
We also had the presentation of the Flapping Buzzard Award, in recognition of that participant who contributed the most to the auto parts industry through excessive trail damage. We had several candidates for that award, but the deciding factor ended up being who was going to take the longest to get back on the trail. Kevin Murphy, who, part for part actually should have had the award, was prepared with spares and never had to quit ‘wheeling. Both Bud Cleveland and Don Roy were done wheeling on the first day, and the award was finally given to Bud. After the presentation of a few more Boneheads (Bob “Two Jeeps” Coco sunk his Jeep, ‘Lil Red,’ into the same mudhole twice, for instance), we got on with the raffle. We’d like to thank ARB Industries and Lenscrafters in particular for their support for “On the Rocks”. I know one thing: as good as this On the Rocks was, next year we’ll make it even better. I also know I had a great weekend out there in Hazleton, Pa. Paragon Adventure Park (www.paragonap.com) is a great place to ‘wheel, with trails of all levels, from dirt roads to wreck-your-truck extreme. Every time I go there the facilities have improved, and it is clear that these guys are trying to run a professional operation. So, when you see the ads appear next year, I advise you to make it a priority to sign up early. You will not be sorry. And remember, keep it rubber down, paint up.
