Members of the Kelsey Trail Sno-Riders snowmobile club in The Pas, Manitoba, held the club’s annual Poker Derby and Winter Blast on March 10, 2012. A total of 75 riders were at the poker derby and 150 were in attendance at the supper and social gathering—which took place after the derby. According to Jamie Allen, who is vice-president of the Kelsey Trail Sno-Riders, the event raised $14,500 in funds for the club.
“This was due to the tremendous support we received in sponsorship and donations from over 100 local businesses,” said Allen.
The derby started at Berscheids Meats, which is located on the outskirts of The Pas, and it took event-goers across approximately 100 miles of the club’s groomed trail system. The club hired a local band called Your Mom’s New Boyfriend to play at the social gathering. Allen said the band played a variety of covers and original songs and that they “rocked the house."
There were cash prizes for the best poker hands and the first-place winner of $1,000 was Errol Matwayashing from The Pas. The second-place prize of $600 went to another local named Peter Totte, and the third-place prize of $400 went to Butch Bartram from Birtle, Manitoba.
Allen said the 2012 Poker Derby and Winter Blast was a great success and she is already planning the event for next year.
“With the abnormally warm temperatures we are experiencing now, I sadly see our snowmobile season coming to a close in the near future,” said Allen. “However, the gears in my head are already turning with ideas to make next year’s fundraising function bigger and better."
It was one of the busiest snowmobiling seasons on record for the Kelsey Trail Sno-Riders. At the beginning of the season, club members upgraded the building that houses their grooming machine and they built a new warm-up shelter. They also replaced a bridge at Goose Creek, which was destroyed by flood waters in the spring of 2011.
See the club’s website for more information on the Kelsey Trail Sno-Riders or visit the club on Facebook.
