Serious News
07-15-2015, 08:37 PM
By Chris O'Gorman, Sarnia Observer
Powerboaters in Sarnia and Windsor are revving up their engines in support of two memorial “poker run” events.
With just one week separating the Mike Fiore Memorial Can-Am Poker Run and Making Waves for Joanne, Sarnia’s shoreline will see its fair share of marine traffic.
Organizers also hope residents show up to watch and cheer from dry land.
The first event runs July 31 to Aug. 1 to raise money for St. Joseph’s Hospice in Sarnia and a scholarship through the Mike Fiore Children’s Foundation.
The event is named in honour of Fiore, a well-known name in the powerboating circuit. He died last August after his powerboat flipped and crashed at the Lake of the Ozarks boat race. He was 44.
“It’s a bit of an opportunity for us to celebrate his life, his contributions to the industry,” said Carl McBride, the president of Performance Boat Club Events in Windsor.
The group has hosted various poker run events in past years, where boaters go from checkpoint to checkpoint, collecting single cards at each stop, in hopes of having the best poker hand at day's end.
For logistical ease, this version features a journey from Sarnia to Windsor and back, and the cards handed out at a dinner reception, he said.
It and Making Waves for Joanne appear to be the first of their kind in Sarnia, at least in several years.
McBride said he hadn’t heard of a Sarnia-based poker run by a Canadian organizer for at
least 17 years.
The second event, in memory of Harmony for Youth founder Joanne Klauke-LaBelle, falls on Aug. 8 and is a sidebar to the larger International Offshore Powerboat Festival.
Klauke-LaBelle died in April after a long battle with a rare autoimmune disease. She was 47.
The money raised will go to a memorial scholarship for students wanting to
study visual or performing arts.
“It's important to recognize someone who contributed so much to the community and to keep
her memory alive, and through that, assist youth in the community,” said Scott MacLean, a powerboat festival spokesperson.
It's the first year for each poker run event. They're expected to draw between 50 and 75 boats each to the Sarnia Bay area.
Any vessel, powerboat or otherwise, is invited to participate in either or each event, organizers said.
For more information and registration, visit performanceboatclub.ca or canampowerboats.com.
http://www.wallaceburgcourierpress.com/2015/07/08/two-charity-poker-runs-planned-on-the-st-clair-river-this-summer
Powerboaters in Sarnia and Windsor are revving up their engines in support of two memorial “poker run” events.
With just one week separating the Mike Fiore Memorial Can-Am Poker Run and Making Waves for Joanne, Sarnia’s shoreline will see its fair share of marine traffic.
Organizers also hope residents show up to watch and cheer from dry land.
The first event runs July 31 to Aug. 1 to raise money for St. Joseph’s Hospice in Sarnia and a scholarship through the Mike Fiore Children’s Foundation.
The event is named in honour of Fiore, a well-known name in the powerboating circuit. He died last August after his powerboat flipped and crashed at the Lake of the Ozarks boat race. He was 44.
“It’s a bit of an opportunity for us to celebrate his life, his contributions to the industry,” said Carl McBride, the president of Performance Boat Club Events in Windsor.
The group has hosted various poker run events in past years, where boaters go from checkpoint to checkpoint, collecting single cards at each stop, in hopes of having the best poker hand at day's end.
For logistical ease, this version features a journey from Sarnia to Windsor and back, and the cards handed out at a dinner reception, he said.
It and Making Waves for Joanne appear to be the first of their kind in Sarnia, at least in several years.
McBride said he hadn’t heard of a Sarnia-based poker run by a Canadian organizer for at
least 17 years.
The second event, in memory of Harmony for Youth founder Joanne Klauke-LaBelle, falls on Aug. 8 and is a sidebar to the larger International Offshore Powerboat Festival.
Klauke-LaBelle died in April after a long battle with a rare autoimmune disease. She was 47.
The money raised will go to a memorial scholarship for students wanting to
study visual or performing arts.
“It's important to recognize someone who contributed so much to the community and to keep
her memory alive, and through that, assist youth in the community,” said Scott MacLean, a powerboat festival spokesperson.
It's the first year for each poker run event. They're expected to draw between 50 and 75 boats each to the Sarnia Bay area.
Any vessel, powerboat or otherwise, is invited to participate in either or each event, organizers said.
For more information and registration, visit performanceboatclub.ca or canampowerboats.com.
http://www.wallaceburgcourierpress.com/2015/07/08/two-charity-poker-runs-planned-on-the-st-clair-river-this-summer