Whether it runs on two wheels or four, there is a lot going on next weekend as area residents rev up their efforts to fight cancer.
Both the Central Kansas Sidewinders motorcycle club’s poker run, and the CPI Qualified Plan Consulstants and Vintage Wheels car show take place Saturday and both benefit the Relay for Life of Barton County Saturday.
Poker run
The poker run will begin and end at Jack Kilby Square in downtown Great Bend.
Registration will begin at 11 a.m. with the last vehicle leaving by 1 p.m. The ride will end at the Sidewinders club house in downtown Ellinwood at about 4 p.m. when the prizes will be awarded. Poker hands will be available for a suggested donation of $10 each, or three for $25. All of the proceeds go to Relay.
Club member Chuck Carpenter said he wants the public involved. “We just want people to come on down.”
The ride will be open to motorcycles or any other vehicles someone wants to ride or drive, he said. In fact, “you don’t even have to ride to participate.” Folks can just come, get a hand and still be in the running for the prizes.
First prize is $500, second is $200 and third is $100.
Carpenter said the Sidewinders formed as a charitable club, and the Relay is one of the group’s big causes. The poker run is sponsored by the Sidewinders with the help of other organizations.
There will also be food and soft drink vendors available.
For more information, contact Carpenter at 913-515-2038 or washroof@yahoo.com.
Car show
Registration for the CPI car show runs from 9-11 a.m. The who will open with local Boy Scouts holding a flag ceremony at 11 a.m. with the show running until 4 p.m., all in the CPI parking lot at 1809 24th St. in Great Bend.
There will be a DJ playing music, prize drawings, games and activities for kids, and other diversions.
Entrants can register on or before Friday for $10 or register the day of the event for $15. Registration includes two complimentary meal tickets.
One of the cars in the show will be that of 2011 Great Bend High School grad Josh Prescott. He will enter his red, restored 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner.
“I bought the car six years ago with my dad’s help when I was in seventh grade,” he said. “It has been my project car.”
Although it sports a bright coat of paint and Prescott drives the car daily, “it is still a work in progress. You are never quite finished.”
The Roadrunner is a mix of old and new, he said. For the most part, they used factory parts, but a DVD screen in the dash and a trunk full of speakers and stereo equipment diverge from the original.
He thanked his dad Jon and family friend Hank Denning for their help with parts and labor.
For a cause
All proceeds from both events benefit Relay for Life.
“We really want to turn these into community-wide events,” said Linn Hogg, Relay chairperson. “We just want to get people out to have a good time and raise money to fight cancer.”
With this year’s Relay theme being “There’s No Place Like Hope,” Hogg hopes folks will get involved in the weekend events. “Cancer is an all-to-common disease, and events such as these give us a chance to fight back.”
The 17th-annual 2010 American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Barton County gets under way with teams of residents gathering at 6 p.m. Friday, June 10, at Jack Kilby Square in downtown Great Bend. The opening ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. with the cancer survivor lap starting at 6:45. Other important times are the luminaria ceremony at 9 p.m., the fight back ceremony at midnight and the closing ceremony at 6 a.m. Saturday.
For more information, call Hogg at 620-617-3640, Team Development Chairperson Kandi Wolf at 620-797-5651.