Eagle Riders hold international poker run for Hope Project

Havre’s Eagle Riders 166 have added another fundraiser to their work in the area, this one with an international bent.

Eagle Riders Secretary Lynette Cline said more than 65 motorcycle riders, about half from Canada, gathered in Havre over the weekend to do a poker run with the proceeds going to benefit the Montana Hope Project.

Cline said the project was successful — and fun — enough to make it a yearly event.

“This is a ride we are going to do annually,” she said.

In a poker run, the riders pick a random playing card at each designated stop, then see what hand can be made from the cards at the end.

She said the group decided to benefit the Montana Hope Project, in which law enforcement officers grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.

“They do a lot of great work, so we support them 100 percent,” Cline said.

She said the poker run this year raised about $1,200 for the Hope Project.

The new addition is one of many fundraisers done by Eagle Riders to benefit causes — a raffle is underway now, with a drawing set during Festival Days, to help the local Salvation Army.

Another poker run is held in the spring, with proceeds from that benefitting Montana Wounded Warriors. That project helps provide Montana military veterans who were injured during service in Iraq or Afhganistan an opportunity to hunt and fish in the state.

Cline said the Wounded Warriors and Montana Hope fundraisers are the only ones that go to entities outside of the local area. All other fundraisers, she said, like the raffle now underway, benefit local causes.

She said the Salvation Army raffle is for three gift certificates, a $400 certificate good at Sears, a $300 gas purchase certificate and a $200 certificate good at Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods. Tickets, which cost $10 each, are available from Eagle Riders or at the Havre Eagles Club.