Hey, all! Pudge is a little busy this month, so I am stepping into his shoes, and they really are big shoes for me!

     Two weeks ago we had the big day. The day that we have all been preparing for, promoting to anyone that will listen, and working our butts off on for the past six months. We had our 1st Annual Poker Run & Bikini Bike Wash. We were kind-of worried about things in the beginning of the week - double hurricanes Bonnie & Charlie were coming up the coast. But, we got lucky and on Saturday, August 14th, it was a great day for riding - not too hot, and a little bit on the cooler side in the morning.

     When all was said and done, we had 88 participants in our Run, and from what we hear from everyone else, that is an excellent first year turnout. Everyone that rode the route said that they really enjoyed the back country roads, and had a great time at the stops.

     Our registration was held at Motor-Vation Polaris Dealer in Mechanicsburg. We had free coffee, doughnuts & orange juice, an enthusiastic staff that helped you to register, and free Victory Vegas Test rides.

     Traveling up into Perry County, we took you to J.W. Smith Autobody in Elliottsburg (my hometown!) where you could check out all of the awesome work that they can do to repair or rebuild your ride, or give it a new coat of paint. With their new addition just completed but not in use yet, the riders had the opportunity to ride through the building.

     The next stop was Sutters Home Restaurant & Pub in Millerstown, where everyone got a chance to grab a beer, sit down, relax, or have a bite to eat for lunch. After a short rest, they were back on the road again headed down Rts. 11 & 15 to Dr. Tom's. If you have never been to Dr. Tom's, you are missing out on quite an experience! Please, take my word for it and give the place a look - you'll never know what you'll find. (Also, you can visit Dr. Tom's newest location by South of the Border in South Carolina.) Dr. Tom was also gracious enough to host Paula & Ginny from Thunder Roads Magazine and GP Detailing.

     And then we come to the last stop - the start of the end. We ended up with five bikini bike wash girls throughout the day. They were sudzing up everything from the participants bikes, to neighbors' cars, and even a truck or two. There was chicken bar-b-que served up by the Perdix Fire Department, and free beer sampling courtesy of Bud & Bud Light.

     One of the highlights of the last stop was the announcement of the winning poker hand - which was held by David Concord with four kings. After the top ten hands were awarded their prizes, and we drew a couple dozen raffle tickets, we still had a ton of prizes left. So everyone made a line, and went home with a prize of some sort. Even after that, there is still stuff left over, so we are going to be giving things away at events that we are sponsoring until everything is gone.

     The other highlight was announcing the amount of money that we were able to raise for the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge - close to $2,000!!! And we couldn't have done it without your support!

     We still do have some exclusive Poker Run t-shirts and one-of-a-kind decks of cards for sale. If you are interested in either, let me know. Next month we will be bringing you a ton of pictures from the day's festivities.

     Once again, we want to thank all of our sponsors, the companies that were so gracious in donating prizes to us, the five businesses that supported us in our first year by being a stop, our volunteers throughout the event, our bikini bike washers, and all of our friends and family.