Prize Possessions

Auburnjournal.com - Full Article

American River Classic endurance ride manager Joby Souza recently came into possession of a pair of trophies long thought lost. He wants to see them restored and put on display. But he’s having trouble finding the money.

Saturday Mar 04 2017
By: Jeff Nicholson

Joby Souza still remembers his reaction the first time he saw the trophies.

“My jaw dropped. I thought they were pretty fantastic, very unusual and unique. Something that should be brought back to life,” says the 42-year-old ride manager of the American River Classic.

Souza is sitting at a picnic table at the American River Canyon Overlook Park in Auburn, one of the primary checkpoints of the endurance - it serves, in fact, as the finishing point for the short-course riders and the midway and finale for the long-distance competitors.

There's little sign this day of the hustle and bustle to come on April

29: a few trucks with trailers, the occasional horse and rider passing through, stopping at the watering trough.

Even so, Souza's delight in these trophies, in this race, is clear. He greets the riders who come through by name, looking at least eight years younger than 42, his short light hair untouched by silver, eyes squinting in the sun. He asks them if they're going to ride in this year's race. To a man and woman, they all say yes, as long as the weather and trail conditions will allow.

The ones who come by when the trophies are still out, sitting on the rim of the circular trough, admire them.

“This ride is a historical piece of Auburn, and we would like to see this ride continue and have these trophies refurbished,” Souza says...

Read more here:
http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/3/04/17/prize-possessions