Who says life in California’s Delta region isn’t fun, sophisticated, and even suave? Proof of all that and more could be found on Saturday down at Isleton Joe’s restaurant and bar, where bikers, fishermen, locals, young, old, and in-betweens piled in for the 2010 SPAM Run and cook off.
Yes, SPAM that mystery meat – the maker, Hormel, says it’s pork shoulder and ham – but that may just be a lot of baloney. Packaged in the iconic blue and yellow can, SPAM has quite a cult following. Those versed in SPAMology, will tell you it was created right her in the U. S. of A. in the late 1930s. One hundred million pounds of the unique pink stuff went to feed the troops in WWII.
By 1995 there was a SPAM-sponsored racecar and sales toted up in the billions. There is a SPAM Museum, SPAM festivals, a line of SPAM clothing and other gear, and even SPAM music. It’s become a SPAMdemic. Like it or not, SPAM is as American as Rock and Roll and Apple Pie, especially when it comes canned. We are a SPAMnation.
Early on down at Joe’s, the cook off contestants shuffled in with SPAM in covered dishes, SPAM roasting on a spit, even SPAM in a “We be Spammmin’ Salad.” In the 1940s the Hormel Girls pitched the virtues of SPAM. In Isleton this weekend it was a pair we dubbed the SPAM sisters. Their SPAM salad came with its own Bob Marleyesque soundtrack. SPAM to a reggae beat? You bet mon.
Folks lined up to pay $3 for an “all you can eat” taste test and judging of such delicacies as “spegg rolls”, “Spamalies”, and Spammy beans. The proceeds went to the local elementary school.crowd
By noon, plenty of other folks had shown up. It was the usual eclectic crowd one finds at Delta doings. They came on Harleys, in trucks with fishing decals on the windows and gun racks over the seat. One dude putted up on his motorized skateboard.
A contingent of the BSA Owners Club of Northern California rode up. There were some Nortons and even a 1957 Velocette mixed in. Nice chaps. They found a seat by Joe’s front window and settled in for the festivities. They looked hungry, but not necessarily for SPAM. They looked more like a cheeseburger bunch. Maybe someone in the group ordered up a steaming bowl of crawdads, an Isleton Joe’s specialty. Maybe.
By the by old bean, the Beezer Boyz (and Girlz) will be at the Clubman’s All Brit Show on March 27 at the Santa Clara Fairgounds in San Jose. Want to get a ’72 BSA 650 Lightning for a $1? That’s what the raffle tickets are going for right now. Go to www.bsaocnc.org for more information. Cheerio!
Right on the SPAM can it says: “Fully cooked; eat it hot or cold.” What it doesn’t say is that you can also play with your SPAM, and that’s what the SPAM toss was all about. Teams of two squared off out in front of the restaurant to launch lobes of lunchmeat skyward. First they had to open the SPAM cans.
One young person opined: “It’s cat food.” A middle-aged lady lamented that as soon as the lid was off she had SPAM jelly in her hair. And she sure did. The tossing begins and SPAM goo was soon everywhere. One by one the teams went down until two young guys started sending each other out for football-like SPAM catches. The lads won slimy hands down.
Meanwhile, back on Joe’s brick-lined patio, the SPAM “tasting” was judged. The winner? The SPAM sisters of course; matching outfits count for something. “Tie-dye is a lost art,” they declared as they proudly displayed their handmade tees.
Later, the SPAM runners headed down river to Mait’s at Vieira’s Resort. The pirate boat chugged by down at the dock. The contest in the parking lot was beer pong. The winners got a case of – no, not SPAM – beer. But then beer goes good with SPAMacotti, doesn’t it? Maybe we’ll find out at next year’s SPAM Run. Maybe.
