The Great Green Chile Chase
Prelude to the LA Green Chile Fest is fast-paced and scary (sort of).
By Gary Bednorz, '87 BA

If this entire scenario seems like a horror film, well, it is Hollywood here!!

I was promised and repromised and guaranteed delivery but alas it is noon on Sunday and the Chile Fest is starting with NO chile for the 14th annual LA Green Chile Fest.… I know you are all thinking Gary is in deep trouble.… You ARE correct.… but before we go any further let's back up just a bit.…

Patrick Conway and I went to the park at 7:30 am to secure the location and claim OUR tables - first come first served in the most gorgeous park you have ever seen.… The weather is an ideal 70 degrees with a light Pacific sea breeze gently stirring.… 10 gallons of posole all ready for the anticipated crowd, 15 cases of water and sodas on ice and the BBQ and chile to arrive soon! (I'll have to look up the meaning of 'soon' someday.…The 8:30 a.m. call to the chile connection tells me things are not going so well.… and they are not getting better fast—if at all!!

At 9:26 I decide to go to LA and get the chile and bring it back to the Fest!! 75 miles and 64 minutes later I am standing in front of the spot where the chile truck "should" be.… It's 10:30, I'm in LA. Patrick and my bride are in the park!! My wife is having a panic attack fearing the worst—that means dealing with chile addicts and having to tell them the 2006 Hatch Flood has delayed the chile delivery.…

I am continuing the LA chile vigil as the truck "could" show any minute…. I call back to the park…. NO barbecue ?? The caterer is not there, we have NO chile and 110 people are on there way!

I call the caterer - a buddy of mine - the conversation goes something like this:

Hi Todd. It's Gary.
He says: What's cooking?
I say: I hope you are??
Todd: Is that today??
Me : Duuuuuuude! Yes! Argh!
Todd: Just kidding. We'll be there soon!!
Funny now, not at the time.

Tick tick tick…. Calls are being made and plans for dealing with the lynch mob are being formulated!! OK, I'll wait until noon. Then, with or without chile, I will head back to the Fest. (Notice how “chile” is now not in the lexicon of the event!)

It's noon. No chile. Time to face the music…. I am not looking forward to the drive back and having a Non-Chile Fest. Epiphany strikes!!

Three weeks earlier I had seen an ad that Albertson’s store (they have 300 in SoCal) would have Hatch Chile each weekend in August! I know where the most likely store is…. 18 miles away—why not give it a try?! It's 12:30 as I pull into the parking lot….  A full-on fiesta is underway!! You guessed it!!

The Luck of the Lobos prevails!! Yes, I have found the one store that has 2 pallets of green chile and three roasters in front!! There's more—lots more to tell….

The rest of the story is available in person over a salted blended margarita!!

Let's all send a little of the that Lobo Luck to the people of Hatch and hope they are all doing well "soon!!”