Jericho Route making return

CLOVIS — What started last year as a COVID-safe Easter celebration may just be turning into a tradition in Clovis as the Jericho Route is again set for Sunday.

The Jericho Route, which has nearly 600 followers on Facebook, will be a Sunday afternoon parade of vehicles traveling seven laps around the city. The seven laps are a reference to the Battle of Jericho, when the Israelites marched around the city walls once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day before blowing their trumpets.

Organizer Latriece Brooks said the event will go much like last year’s event did.

“It went really long,” Brooks said, “but it went more smoothly than we thought.

The group will meet at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Curry County Fairgrounds to prepare for the 2 p.m. departure. The route will circle the city, through Brady Street, Mabry Drive, Humphrey Road and Wilhite and Wheaton streets. Brooks insisted the event has law enforcement permission but no escorts, meaning participants must follow all traffic laws as if they were on a normal drive.

Drivers, Brooks said, can do any number of laps from one to seven if they don’t have the entire afternoon available. Last year’s motorists, more than 200 total, took about three and a half hours to complete the seven laps.