The 2024 KAPOA (Kaminiskeg Area Property Owners Association) Poker Run will be held this Saturday July 27.
The boating event starts at the Barrys Bay Boat launch at 1 p.m., where boaters will make their way around Kaminiskeg Lake to seven docks overall, drawing a playing card at each checkpoint.
According to Poker Run organizer Bruce Wilmer, entrants decorate their boats and prizes are given for the ‘best looking boat’.
Wilmer says it’s not just the docks that people have fun decorating:
“So this year, given that it’s the Olympics, we’ve asked our dock hosts to come up with an Olympic theme for their dock, so as the boats pull up to draw their cards, we’re hoping that there’ll be some interesting themed docks around the Olympics, which could be sports or, you know, ‘Olympics through time’”
Wilmer says that registration opens at 1 p.m. and boats should be on the water by 1:30 p.m. The event will then end up at Hinterland Beach around 4 p.m.
“We’ll have a BBQ, celebration with music, 50/50 draw and that will go until 8 p.m.”
Each year the KAPOA Poker Run raises funds for the purchase of crucial medical equipment required by the St. Francis Memorial Hospital in Barry’s Bay.
According to KAPOA, St. Francis Memorial provides emergency services to more than 10,000 residents, cottagers and visitors to the area during the summer months.
This year’s event goal is to raise $30,000 to help purchase telemetry capabilities in the emergency department. The use of telemetry allows a patient to have their vital signs monitored wirelessly, giving them the ability to move more easily (from a bed to a chair, to a different room, or the restroom) without first having to disconnect wires.
For those who wish to pre register for the event, sign up for a ‘virtual’ poker run, or donate to the fundraiser more information can be found here:
