Poker runs are fun as well as beneficial
As spring warms up, area residents dust off their bicycles, check the fuel lines in their boats and put gas in their motorcycles. It’s finally time to enjoy the outdoors.
This June will also be a good time to show support for Imperial, Nebraska, residents Brock Leibhart and Daryl Sharp. Two poker runs are planned, with proceeds to benefit the two.
The ABATE of Nebraska Inc. District 12 spring membership drive is incorporating a benefit for Leibhart on Saturday, June 5. Leibhart was injured in an automobile accident Feb. 7.
A poker run Saturday, June 12, will benefit Sharp, who has been fighting colon cancer since July 2019. Friends have organized that event.
Jan Elliott, organizer of the Flamingo Poker Run, which benefits Sharp, described a poker run.
Participants pay an entry fee that purchases them a “hand,” or card, for a poker hand.
They then ride a form of transportation, whether two wheeled, three wheeled or more, to another destination, where they draw another card.
On to the next stop and another card drawn, until six stops have been made. The best poker hand wins the pot, which is usually donated back to the person being recognized, she said.
ABATE poker run is June 5
The ABATE event includes, besides the benefit for Leibhart, a membership drive and hog raffle.
“You don’t need to have a bike to be a member of ABATE,” said spokesman Brad Dinnel, but the majority of members are motorcycle enthusiasts.
The poker run begins at Morning Star Cafe in Imperial with registration from 10-10:30 a.m. Card draws are there, in Cambridge, Nebraska, Oberlin, Kansas, Culbertson, Nebraska, Trenton, Nebraska, and back to Imperial to the VFW Post 4688.
“I can’t emphasize enough that you don’t need a bike to participate,” Dinnel stated.
ABATE usually holds two fundraisers each year, Dinnel noted. Proceeds are “redistributed to where they’re needed.”
In addition, ABATE holds a bike show at the Chase County Fair and participates in the parade, provides help for children and families at Christmas and puts up safety signs in the area.
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