This summer, the nonprofit Performance Boat Club of Canada will run five official charity poker runs in the Southern Ontario area. Last year, the club raised more than $50,000 for charities including the Georgian Bay General Hospital Foundation, St. Joseph's Hospice in Sarnia, the Children's Foundation of Muskoka, the Ride for Dad Prostate Awareness Campaign and the Children's Wish Foundation according to Meghan Brousseau, the PBCC’s president.
All of the funds raised during PBCC events go to charity. Photo courtesy/copyright Carl McBride/DPG Media.
The 2016 dates and locations for the poker runs are:
2019 Charity Poker Run Schedule – See full event info below. GEORGIAN BAY – JULY 5, 2019 TO JULY 7, 2019. RICE LAKE – SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 TO SEPTEMBER 22, 2019. ALL COTTAGES HAVE BEEN RESERVED AT SILVER LEAF COTTAGES. 2019 Charity Poker Run Schedule. RICE LAKE: SEPTEMBER 20-22.
• June 16—Muskoka Lakes, Gravenhurst
• July 9—Georgian Bay, Midland
• July 30—Lake Sinclair, Sarnia
• August 28—Lake Simcoe, Orillia
• September 10—Rice Lake, Bewdley
Since it was founded in 2007, the club reportedly has raised more than $500,000 for various charities. 'Our members are some of the most generous people in boating today and really enjoy getting together with fellow performance boaters, while at the same time raising money for a good cause,' Brousseau said.
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The Performance Boat Club of Canada held its fourth charity poker run last weekend on Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. The weather was perfect with plenty of sunshine and calm water for the 22-boat fleet.
Dave Scotto and company tackled last weekend’s Lake Simcoe Poker in Team Gotta Go IV, his new Outerlimits SL 50X (click image toenlarge). Photos courtesy/copyright Carl McBride/Performance Boat Club of Canada.
Following the morning driver’s meeting, the boats took off from the Port of Orillia just after 11 a.m. They departed Lake Couchiching for the first checkpoint at Atherley Narrows, where dozens of spectator boats waited. The group made its way to the second checkpoint in Barrie, Ontario for a parade lap at the town docks (Centennial Park) before heading for lunch at the third checkpoint in Lagoon City at The Lily Pad waterside restaurant.
After lunch, it was full throttle again as the group made its way to fourth checkpoint for a quick waterside tour/visit of the new development, Friday Harbor Marina in Innisfil, Ontario. Bob Barnhart had his 42-foot Mystic Powerboats center console—the paceboat for the event—moving along so well that the pace flag took flight and will forever be remembered, somewhere on the bottom of the lake. Once the group had gathered at the fourth checkpoint, it enjoyed a long stretch of calm back to the Atherley Narrows and into Lake Couchiching, for an afternoon raft up at the sandbar at Big Chief Island.
Check out the slideshow above to enjoy more images from last weekend’s PBCC event.
Poker Run Rice Lake Ontario
That evening, captains and crews headed to the Geneva Event Centre for dinner, the awards ceremony and the silent and live auctions. The club members raised more than $22,000 for Ride for Dad in the fight against prostate cancer, the event’s benefiting local charity. As for the poker-hand winners, David Hull had the best hand followed by Vic Priestly and Mickey Brydges.
The final event of the PBCC season is set for the weekend of September 20 on Rice Lake. Click here for more details on the event.
Editor's Note: Meghan Brousseau is the president of the Performance Boat Club of Canada. This is her second article for speedonthewater.com. Her first article, 'Special Delivery: Nor-Tech 390 At Home In Turks and Caicos,' appeared on March 12.
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