1st ever Upper St. Joseph River Charity Poker Run

Captain Matt and Lucinda Lowe won top prize for their stop Tiki Bar.  From left: Steve Holtz, Bruce Shreiner and Kevin Richardson are "card judges" opening over 5,000 envelopes to find the winning hands.

‌ Maria Russo Pendley and family hosted a Hawaiian themed stop where boaters received lays.

Poker Run Winners $25  1st - $1,650 - Tristen Saverns 2nd - $990 - Kellie Shah 3rd - $660 - Roger Hull $10 1st - $808 - Ann Britzke 2nd - $485 - Rich Gawthrop 3rd - $322 - Kevin Richards $5 1st - $396 - Jamie Richardson 2nd - $238 - Tim Meyers 3rd - $158 - Rich Gawthrop

7/13/2019 Poker Runs are common on many of the lakes in Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan, this was the first time one was held on the Upper St. Joseph River in Elkhart. The committee that put on the Run named themselves the “River Rats” their first goal was to educate the roughly 600 residents who live on the Upper St. Joe how a Poker Run is conducted. They sold $5, $10 and $25 “hands” setting up sale booths at local restaurants. A person could purchase as many “hands” as they wished. So for ease of explanation say a person purchased one $10 hand and one $25 dollar hand they would be given a receipt showing how many hands and the denominations along with a one gallon zip lock bag and a list of clues as to the five stops where they could pick up their cards on the day of the event. On the day they would travel by boat to five different homes on the river which their clues lead them to; it wasn’t very hard because there was a line of boats waiting at each stop to collect their cards. There were five host families that each had a theme as the players also voted for best theme stop. Captain Matt Lowe and his wife Lucinda won for their Tiki Bar stop. At each stop you would receive one playing card for each hand you purchased so our fictional player would get one $10 card and one $25 card after the five stops they would have two hands of poker. The playing cards are sealed in individual envelopes and are to be opened only by card judges at the final destination. The top three hands in each category won prize money. According to the committee over 1000 hands of cards were sold, 80 boats made the five stops and there were over 160 boats at the final destination where the rock band Shock-Roxey provided entertainment. River Rat committee member Bruce Shreiner said they were overwhelmed with the turn out and success of their first Charity Poker Run, Shreiner said they plan to make this an annual event. Submitted by Tom Shoff

~ Violator of the Week ~

Thank you to the SJRA, Inc. member that sent in this photo of probably one the worst violations a boater could commit. If one or both of these "bow Riders" had slipped off the front they would be chopped to bits in seconds, no one could pull the throttle back in time. If you know who this violator is please reply with their name so this can be forwarded to law enforcement. The SJRA does not wish to embarrass boat operators but we a community committed to boating safety, we don't want anyone injured or killed nor do we want children in adjacent boats witnessing a horrific accident. Please continue to send us pictures of unsafe boating practices you witness. Boat Safe, SJRA, Inc.

~ Your SJRA Donations at Work ~

The Elkhart Police Department donated their former Hurricane Deck boat to the St. Joseph River Association it has been re-lettered Safety Escort. This boat will be used to monitor the river for weeds, provide escorts for the future rowing club and as pictured here tow dangerous obstructions out of the boating channel. Can you imagine hitting this floating dock with your boat or skier? Items are towed to the ramp AEP has at the dam and then AEP removes the items. If you haven’t sent in your donation check to the SJRA, Inc please take a moment to do so, so we can continue to provide these much needed services.  Donation Form You may mail your tax deductible donation checks to: SJRA, Inc. 722 Middleton Run Road Elkhart, IN 46516   Please like us on Facebook.

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