Stay Up To Date In Our Community
SEE OUR SPECIAL INSERT
FOCUS ON BARNEGAT Starting on Page 7
Causeway Gazette The
www.CausewayGazette.com
Proudlyserving Proudly servingManahawkin Manahawkin and and surrounding surrounding communities communities
August July 2021 • Number 88 87
CAUSEWAY’S OWN, TRUCK MEET FOUNDER
By Kaitlyn Strohmeier, Causeway with excerpts from Dubmagazine.com As you may have noticed in the past few issues of the Causeway Gazette, we had advertised for the first ever Atlantic City Truck Meet. This event was truly exciting for us because our very own Christopher Varner of Causeway is co-founder of this meet. The first annual show took place on July 17th and 18th in Atlantic City. We’re happy to announce that this event was a hit, with 2,000 vehicles in attendance and 14,000 spectators in total! The Atlantic City Truck Meet is put on by Mark Wickline, Christopher Varner and John Klebaur. The three friends came up with the event after they realized that the Northeast was truly an untapped market in the truck show industry. Mark had stated, “You see all the shows out west and down South, but there wasn’t a true truck show to the caliber we felt needed to be.” So after months of kicking
Chris Varner’s favorite truck “Dirty Money”
it around, another truck show in the area canceled their event indefinitely and they felt like that was their opportunity to announce an event. The first annual show was supposed to be in July of 2020, but because of COVID-19 and state guidelines, the meet had to be postponed until this year. On June 25th, the 2019 Atlantic City Truck Meet was
WHAT'S INSIDE Family Promise........................................................................................... PAGE 2 Sports Beat...........................................................................................PAGE 3 NFL Star Visits Local Lemonade Stand...................................................PAGE 4 Cycling Passion Leads To Good Cause.........................................................PAGE 5 Certified Pre-Owned Nissan Vehicles.....................................................PAGE 6 Focus on Barnegat................................................................................PAGE 7 Senior Corner....................................................................................... PAGE 8 Coronavirus and Travel ..........................................................................PAGE 9 Barnegat High School Sports................................................................................PAGE 10 Hearts of Mercy Born Out of Compassion....................................................... PAGE 11 IHSS Adds Ride Share Program ............................................................PAGE 12 Tucson Earns Top Safety Grades............................................................PAGE 13 Free Oil Change Coupon........................................................................PAGE 14 Certified Pre-Owned Ford Vehicles.........................................................PAGE 15 Kids Corner Activities.........................................................................PAGE 16
The
Causeway Gazette For information or to advertise in The Causeway Gazette please call 609.713.6706 or visit www.CausewayGazette.com email: CausewayGazette@gmail.com
Editor: Joe Stroffolino Assistant Editor: Kaitlyn Strohmeier Publisher: Melissa Hill Creative/Comp: Keith Stewart, Theresa Maye, Andy Rosenthal Marketing: Bryan Whelan © 2021. All rights reserved.
announced officially. There was no venue, no dates, or anything set in stone. But the one thing they did have were sponsors, thanks to John Ramos and Myles Kovacs at TIS Wheels. With one year to put on the show, the team hit the ground running. Each had their own role in making the show a reality, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen so they had a whole extra year to perfect the details. “It was two years in the making, but it was well worth it,” Mark said. This event brought in some significant vendors and booths including: TIS Wheels, Versa Tyre, Renegade Products, BAMF LED Offroad Lighting, Skoop & Nikki of SMG, Tobin’s Detailing, American Force Wheels, Forgiato Wheels, Fury Tires, Black Red Headwear, Liberty Forged, Diamond Mobile Detailing, Zephyr Polishes and many more. They had local favorite DJ Meatball (Chris Varner’s brother), a professionally built Sand Castle for photo ops, 15 food trucks and a beer garden. Mark boasts that people are extremely happy with the event. “We have gotten so much good feedback from sponsors, vendors, participants and spectators. Some people have suggested things to add or change and we are taking everything into serious consideration for next year.”
Professional Sand Castle at Meet
We sat with Chris and asked him: What inspired you to co-create this event? “The lack of bigger truck shows in the North East. It was an untapped market.” What vehicle did you build for this event?
Mark Wickline and Chris Varner
was ‘Dirty Money”, which “I built a 2021 Ford F-450 is the DMX Cast Ride Monster Platinum. I had it on a 9.5” Truck.” lift, 37” Fury tires and 26” TIS What’s in-store for next wheels.” year’s Atlantic City Truck Did you have a personal Meet? favorite truck at this show? “We have a lot of great ideas What and whose was it? for next year. We’re planning on “Yes. My favorite truck
doing helicopter tours from the
show field, a burn out box and dyno runs. We’re also thinking of including more activities for the kids.” The Trio is already planning for next year’s show! They say that is looks like it’ll be the weekend of July 30th & 31st in 2022.