The Central Macomb Optimist Club will be on the road again on Sept. 30 when it hosts its third annual Poker Run/Road Rally event.
The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 30 with check in at the Rusty Rooster Saloon, 11557 East 12 Mile Road in Warren. The event will conclude at the same location at 4 p.m.
Participants will purchase at least one poker hand as an individual. Central Macomb Optimist Club Co-Vice President Kathryn Searle said that the number of hands that can be purchased is unlimited.
“To participate in the event, anyone over the age of 21 years can purchase one or more poker hands for $10 each hand. While many participants will have a group of people in the same vehicle, each person is eligible to purchase poker hands,” Searle said.
Searle also said participants may have their children under age 21 with them during the game, but kids cannot purchase poker hands.
Each vehicle will be provided with directions to checkpoints — Macomb County restaurants — and event participants are encouraged to patronize these establishments. Including the Rusty Rooster Saloon, there will be a total of five locations for the game, according to Searle.
“Each vehicle will be given a packet on the date of the event which includes directions to the participating restaurants/checkpoints,” Searle said.
Searle said at each checkpoint, event participants will receive an envelope containing a playing card for every poker hand they purchase. She gave the example that if someone purchases one hand, they will get one envelope at each checkpoint. If someone purchases five hands, they will get five envelopes at each checkpoint, Searle said.
“Participants may also purchase additional hands when they return,” Searle said.
Participants are asked not to open the envelopes they receive during the game.
“The envelopes are sealed. At the finish location, they will be opened and the cards inside the envelopes will be played as a poker hand,” Searle said.
At the conclusion of the event, the envelopes will be opened by an event official, and winning poker hands will be declared. The top poker hands will earn a prize. Searle said that prizes are donated by Central Macomb Optimist Club members, and will range from gift cards to gift baskets.
“The amount of hands eligible for a prize will depend on the number of prizes donated. In the past we have had at least 25 prizes donated,” Searle said.
Preregistration for the road rally is available now until the day of the event. Searle said registration will be offered on the event date also. To preregister, the names of participants, a contact person’s phone number, and the number of poker hands each participant is purchasing can be submitted via email or mail. Checks can be made payable to Central Macomb Optimist Foundation. Via mail, registration can be submitted to CMOC, c/o Kathe Searle, 16530 Congress Dr., Clinton Township, MI 48036. Via email, registration is accepted at [email protected] or [email protected].
Searle said that the club chose to hold its poker run/road rally in September this year in hopes to avoid people’s vacation times and increase attendance.
The Central Macomb Optimist Club assists children and youth locally. The group is also a 501 (c) 3 organization and uses Central Macomb Optimist Foundation as a name for donations, Searle said.
The club’s poker run/road rally event will benefit the Macomb Foster Closet, a Macomb County nonprofit that provides clothing and other essentials to children in foster care. The Mount Clemens Community Schools terminated its lease with tenants at a resource center located on North Rose near Groesbeck Highway in Mount Clemens, evicting nonprofits, including Macomb Foster Closet. Macomb Foster Closet found a new location at 158 South Main Street in Mount Clemens. They and launched a Forever Home Campaign to fundraise. Macomb Foster Closet website information lists that the closet has a goal of $350,000 to move in, which includes $100,000 down, $200,000 in renovation costs and $50,000 in first-year expenses.
“While we continue to support the Shop with the Sheriff event with the Macomb Charitable Foundation, we have already met our goal for that event, so we looked to see what other ways we could help our community and other charities,” Searle said. “Macomb Foster Closet is currently moving into a new facility and are in need of additional funding to make the move. They are a great asset to Macomb County and we decided to help them with their endeavor by naming them the charity to benefit from this event.”
More information on Macomb Foster Closet’s Forever Home Campaign can be found at foreverhomecampaign.org/.
