Old Ken’s Fun Run 2009: The Quest for the Green Jacket.
If you were out and about Jackson Hole on Saturday, August 1st, you no doubt saw a plethora of Porsche’s zooming hither and yon (all within the posted speed limit of course).
It was all part of “Old Ken’s Fun Run”, our third annual driving event to raise funds for the club, and the spirits of the club members participating. Even the Jackson police got involved.
The weather was perfect. A Chamber of Commerce day with bright blue skies, warm temps, and every Cabriolet and Boxster top down and stowed.
Everyone gathered at the Jackson Hole High parking lot. Event coordinator and Club Veep Scot Anderson outdid himself in planning the event. For this year, Scot dreamed up a Scavenger Hunt on wheels.
After the mandatory safety instructions – a bunch of sentences that began with “Do not…” – Scot told us how the event would work.
Each participating car would receive six envelopes. Inside each envelope were Porsche related questions, the scrambled letters answers would provide clues to six destinations, or limericks and poems that also provided destination clues. At those destinations was a box, containing a description of an item to be obtained in the rolling Scavenger Hunt. Not every car had the same destinations, so there would be no advantage in following another car.
The early favorite to win was Tom Barker, who brought along his two grandchildren to help him navigate the Hunt. While adults were likely to be stumped and stymied by Scot’s clues, this would be child’s play for a child.
Destinations included the Library, Stieglers (hey, they’re “German” cars), the Stage Coach, The Wildlife Art Museum, Sidewinders, Snow King, Spring Creek and The Chamber of Commerce. There every car received an envelope with candy goodies, discount coupons, and the name of the object to be scavenged, such as a bus schedule, a picture of a historical landmark and a hospital pamphlet. The toughest one was a list of safety tips from the local fire department. Tough because the Volunteer firehouses are closed on Saturday. But more than one clever participant stopped a police officer and asked to be let into the firehouse.
Points were awarded for each correct destination, and each item collected. After all destinations were visited, and all “treasures” obtained, every team headed north to Dornan’s Upper Deck to re-hydrate while the points were tabulated. As the hydration process continued, more and more accusations of cheating, and accompanying laughter, were volleyed across the tables.
While the judges conferred, numerous gifts certificates that Scot had collected were presented.
The contest resulted in a six-way dead heat between the Barker Clan, the Beck’s, the Koop’s, the Faems, Chad Weiss and Scott Fossil, and the Hochheisers, all with 64 points each. Through blind luck, and the ability to pull high cards out of a deck, the Faems were presented the Grand Prize: a share of the cash pot, and far more valuable, the notorious Green Jacket. (Please note that in true Yellowstone Region tradition, the original Green Jacket, styled after the Masters, was lost the first year, and the current “Green” Jacket is a blue tweed plaid). Following the presentation of the “Green” Jacket, jealous onlookers feared the coveted coat would be rent in two as Nancy and Mike each tugged a sleeve in hopes of being the first to don it.
All in all our 3rd Annual Fun Run was a wonderful driving event and great sport. What’s more, we raised over $200 for the club’s other social events. Kudos to the Coordinator Scot Anderson who obviously put long hours into preparing it. And additional thanks to Yellowstone Region Poet Laureate, Nancy Clancy (even her name rhymes), for providing the poetic clues. We hope to see even more of you out here next year.
[nggallery id=18]
