Cycle OR LOVES biking to Happy Camp!!
Judy Bushy
High Expectaions were in the air Sunday afternoon. On Park Way the crews had put up tall poles with brightly colored fabric, red, blue, yellow and green, waving in the wind. It was quite a sight. After my morning classes, Monday at Old Town Park we saw a number of booths set up with food to offer hungry cyclists. At that time, no cyclists had arrived.
Shortly after noon Monday a few brightly clad bicyclists began to appear. It stood to reason that a ride from Yreka that takes nearly a couple of hours by car would take cyclists longer! They seemed intent on going directly to the finish line although they had to go around town in a circular route before climbing Headway Hill, one last rise, before the last leg of the ride down Park Way .
There was food that could have fed several thousand hungry cyclists, I’m sure! The Klamath Knot Center had sandwiches, The Campus Life Club had brownies and pies and other baked goods. The Happy Seniors had punch cards and pies. Beautiful pies, All sorts of pies, Oh they looked good!
Betty Fayette and Tina Sherburne had a food booth. Dolly Elston had sausages and curly fries. Lisa West and Company had Teriyaki chicken on a stick with salad bar and SNO CONES!! She was also assisted by a number of young people and one young Sasquatch!! It was the Sasquatch that loved to jump out in front of the cyclists and surprise them!! More and more cyclists began to arrive until five o’clock when most of the cyclists had arrived or were being offered pick up rides to get to camp.
After interesting conversations at Old Town Park I went to the Elementary school and saw the finish line the cyclists were rushing to get to!! There Nadine and Co. had the Dear Mad’m mining cabin (from last weeks Jamboree parade) set up as an information booth. They were there answering questions and welcoming all the people– of which there were many. Displays booths had all sorts of Cycle Oregon memorabilia from socks to hats and some mighty nice T-shirts with a map on them, in case one got lost on the road!!! Ha!
These cyclists are serious about their bikes however, and more booths were set up to take care of the bikes!! There were also programs for mentoring young people as well as other causes and first aid help available.
Down to the park. Trisha Barnes, and her mother, Nida Johnson were there selling autographed copies of Trisha’s book, Klamath Treasure. They seemed the busiest booth there. There were also photographs, handcrafted jade jewelry, tie dyed shirts, books, and all sorts of things from refrigerator magnets to massages were being offered. The massages seemed to be the most popular with the bikers!!
Monday was not the end of the Cycle Oregon experience. I also had been asked to help out at breakfast. Now, us Mom’s are always ready to help serve hungry people, but at 4:35 in the morning?!? We assembled for hairnets, aprons and instructions before dawn. The cyclists were fed a hearty breakfast of bacon, cheese omelets, 7 grain oatmeal and other cereals, coffee, juice fruit and yogurt. It was something for everyone, especially coffee. High School Seniors were helping out in this way to fundraise for their senior trip to Hawaii before they graduate next June.
Finally the sun came up and we could see more clearly the visitors to our community. They were such a friendly bunch of people, and all had a kind word of appreciation that you wished you had all day to visit. However, they were also eager to be on the way UP, and I do mean UP over Greyback Road to Oregon . We bid them adieu and hope they may come back to Happy Camp in coming years.
By eight o’clock it was time to go to work at Happy Camp High School. Unfortunately after four hours of bussing tables, I didn’t have to ACT like a “senior citizen” for dress up day at School on Tuesday!! Bonnie Alvarez was all dressed up as a nurse to take care of the students who were dressing as “senior citizens.” Many of them were packing up the luggage that they had unpacked the day before, but before long they showed up back at school to hit the books with a regular school day.