Record breaking year

Times Reporter 

 

The goal for the seventh annual Harleys and Hotrods Poker Run was to break the $100,000 donation mark, something it did with flair. Money raised from the poker run is donated to the Children’s Wish Foundation.

The morning of Sept. 8 started with a toonie breakfast, and a show and shine. The roadway in front of Underground Performance was packed with people, bikes and classic cars. 

“We had well over 200 participants and it was an awesome day. Beautiful weather for it all and I think everyone was very pleased,” said Vince Orme, president of the Harleys and Hotrods poker run board, and owner of Underground Performance.

“It’s been seven years and I think we’re probably going to be getting close to the $110,000 mark with this year’s donation once we get things all tallied.”

During the show and shine awards were given including the second annual Davis Cup. Davis Weisner, 14, fought a long battle with cancer before succumbing last year. The Davis Cup was created as a way to honour him and keep his memory alive. Organizations like the Children’s Wish Foundation and the Kids Cancer Care often become a light down a dark path for a child fighting cancer.

“Davis was a real fan of hot rods…so we decided to give out the award for a car this year instead,” said Orme.

The car show was held in the morning for the first time. A lot of the cars may not come out to the party later in the day and Orme said they wanted to make sure to include them too. The recipient of the Davis Cup was Dan with his 1921 T- bucket. 

Saturday was geared more towards the adults with the show and shine, the poker run and the party afterwards. On Sunday, kids were welcome at AAB Steel for the bike rodeo and other events.

“We had the rodeo on Sunday as well, so the kids were allowed to come out and participate in the games on Sunday. We had a kids keg toss and a barrel roll for them.”

A few people have asked what a bike rodeo is. A bike rodeo is where there are a bunch of games that have to be done on the bike. There is a keg roll, which is where a keg is laid down on its side and pushed across the line using the bike’s front tire. 

There’s the slow ride, and the object is to be the last person across the finish line without putting your feet on the ground. There’s also the wienie bite, where the passenger on the bike has to go under the stand where a hotdog is hung from and try to bite off as much as they can without the driver putting his feet down. 

This year was the first year the poker run had been held in September, and the first time the show and shine had been held in the morning. The plan is to host the car show at the same time next year.