leprechaun

A Snowball's Chance
SJVMC 9th Annual St. Patrick's Day Poker Run

March 15, 2003

By Genny Paauwe
SAMOA Member

Along the route CLOVIS -- This suburban Fresno town is becoming famous for far more than its annual rodeo or Blossom Trail these days. There's more going on here than meets the eye. Most people haven't heard, but Clovis is famous for its Leprechauns.

But what about all those darned Mazda Miatas that seem to infiltrate the town every March? One has to wonder why they flock to Clovis. Is it the Ides of March? Is it the Spring equinox? Nope! It all has to do with Leprechauns.

At the start Leprechauns are cute, friendly and fun, but they also like to fiddle with the weather. They certainly know how to manipulate the best laid plans, scheming to cause minor bits of chaos for unsuspecting Miata drivers.

Not to worry! Our hosts, the wonderful folks of the San Joaquin Valley Miata Club, know how to handle errant Leprechauns. They've had a lot of practice the past nine years of their Annual St. Patty's Day Poker Run.

"A Snowball's Chance" -- what a fitting title for this years event! After all, at last year's event the Leprechauns ordered snow! We have to admit that we were watching the Fresno-area weather forecasts closely on the days leading up to the event, certain that the Leprechauns would somehow wedge their little pointed shoes into our plans.

Card stop The hard top was clamped onto Bob's Trickster and, with new tires, we were off from El Dorado Hills to Clovis on Friday morning. Our usual leisurely pace down Hwy. 49 was unmarred by rain, sleet or snow. In fact, it was downright pleasant! Hmm... we wondered what those Leprechauns were cooking up.

The coffee and donut mobile We met up with old friends and made new acquaintances Friday night in the ever-popular third-floor hospitality suite. Event leaders promised the route would not include chaining up due to snow. A whopping 47 Miatas were singed up for the Saturday main event. Impressive!

Late Friday night those Leprechauns were hard at work. We awoke to rain showers, forcing the check-in location to be inside the hotel. The rain actually washed the splattered bugs off the front end of our car, much to the Leprechauns chagrin, we're sure!

At the start About 10 a.m. the Miatas started lining up for departure. Route instructions? Check. Water? Check. First poker card? Check. Good windshield wipers? Check. Leprechaun repellant? What?

And we were off!

Oops! Only a few miles into the drive, the Leprechauns had done some road work, sending the string of Miatas on a detour. Just a slight inconvenience, really, but I could see the little green hats poking up from behind the "Road Closed" signs. On the road

The roads up and out of the flat lands were carpeted with green grass, punctuated with white and yellow wildflowers, horses, cattle and the occasional bird of prey. And people give the Fresno area a bad rap!

We ended up in the center of a gaggle of Miatas making their way to the second poker card stop. Before we even reached the poor lady who was handing out cards, I could sense the Leprechauns hiding in the hills. We stopped in a downpour with the volunteer card carrier dripping wet as she carried out her task. She was a trooper! I could hear the little green giggles from behind the rocks.

Rain Less than a mile up the road from the card stop, the Leprechauns clapped their hands in unison and the rain came down hard. Our wipers were on full blast and the bilge pump activated!

Next we went up, up, up into conifer country. The rain had subsided a bit, but I am sure we missed some spectacular views from that high vantage point above the valley due to the foggy conditions.

Lunch stop Down the mountain and into sunny Oakhurst, we ate lunch at Hondos. Participants drew their third poker card, then relaxed and socialized while eating. At this point, hot hand Bob had drawn three fives of a different suit. Not too bad for a start at a decent hand, we thought.

We high-tailed it out of the restaurant, not wanting to be in the middle of a big pack of Miatas for the rest of the day. We followed Joe and Carol Rainbolt out of the parking lot, but didnt make the traffic light behind them. Later, they drove up behind us at the forth poker card stop at Hensley Lake. How did that happen? Well, they had stopped for gas in Oakhurst! Here comes Joe and Carol

The little green gremlins must have taken an afternoon nap because the day turned out sunny and springlike after all. The roads were dry and Bob especially zoom-zoomed down Road 600 toward Raymond. Now, that road was paved for Miatas!

Joe and Carol We made it back to the hotel and grabbed our last poker card from the Aspergers, who barely had time to park their own car before we arrived. We didn't know it, but we were the first car in for the day.

The awards dinner and raffle were conveniently located one block from the hotel, at DiCiccos. We enjoyed talking to other club members and perusing the raffle prizes.

Maybe the Leprechauns had drunk too much green beer and made a mistake, but to our surprise, we were the winners of the poker run with our three little fives! We got very nice engraved mugs filled with chocolates (including some shaped like Leprechauns, of course) as a prize.

Along the route The raffle had some neat items and we know the charity will appreciate the donations made to their cause. Cha-ching!

After a long day out battling the Leprechauns, we ended up winners. Next year, keep your eye out for green pointed shoes, whimsical green hats and beady little green eyes peering from behind the trees. The Leprechaun mischief-makers will be back and so will we!