Mark your Calendars !
 

FOR THOSE THAT DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE GREAT WHITE NORTH AFTER MEMORIAL DAY: (or those willing to come back!! :) )

I have been asked by the Lee County chapter of the American Red Cross to assist them in organizing a Poker Run style event fund raiser on June 28, 2008.

Currently, the starting points and chip stops are still open. The end point will be the Marina at Cape Harbor in Cape Coral. It is anticipated that there will be silent auction items set up in the rotunda between Rum Runners and the Boathouse. Awards for winning hands will be made in the same area. The organizing committee has determined a registration fee of $150 to $200 for each boat, captain, co-captain and one hand of cards. Additional hands of cards are anticipated to be $50 to $75. Unlike some other poker runs, there will not be a limit on the number of participant hands that can be played, and speed will not be an issue. (It is a fund raiser, after all !!)

At this point, there will be light appetizers at the final stop at Cape Harbor and the event will conclude before dinner. Participants will be on their own for dinner. With this level of registration cost, I would expect to pay for dinner myself.

Cape Harbor, Realmark Realty, and the Boathouse management have graciously offered complimentary overnight dockage at the marina for the event.

In addition to participating in the fun run, I am looking for your assistance with the following:

1.) Obviously, sponsorships are available for Presenting Sponsor, Burgee Sponsor, Chart Sponsor, T shirt Sponsor, Chip Sponsor, and Card Sponsor. The sponsorships contributions range from $250 to $12,500.
2.) Card / Chip stops. Can your facility be a designated stop for participants? Are you in a position to offer a sponsored lunch during the day?
3.) Silent auction item donations
4.) Customer participation. Encourage your customers and friends to get out on their boats and participate.
5.) Assistance at card stops. Although the card stops have not yet been identified, volunteer staff for directing boat traffic, handing out chips or cards, and recording participant registration numbers will be needed.

6.) Spread the word ...


Thank you for any assistance you can provide

Hi Tom-

Boating for a great cause! Amanda and I should be in the area. Count us in.

If you need some help let me know and I will see what I can do.

Don

Count me in. Dito on the assistance if needed.

Sounds good to me....

Sounds like fun Tom,

Not sure if I will have a boat, or at least a boat that is capable of keeping up, but I will try. If there is not a slower group running, and someone would like a crew member, I will gladly pay for a hand.

Rick

ttt

Tom, thought this is such a good cause that it should be brought back up. Wish I were around to help in some way but since I cannot, I will make a financial contribution to try and be some help. I will see you with it late next week. Maybe we can have a "Cabana Bar" meeting before I leave town next, but that is for another thread.:D
Bob

Rick:

There will be slower boats running. The run is open to the whole boating community in South West Florida.

T

Thanks Bob.

Tom count me in. This is my favorie type f run.

Rick,
I was going to say, I'll be the slow group, so don't worry about that.:p Sounds like a good time Tom.
Tom

Bringing this back to the top. The event is only three weeks away.

Detailed info and registration info can be found on the American Red Cross web site: http://www.arclcc.org/

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

Tom

Tom,

Sounds like this could be a fun event, with a purpose.

Any info starting point, route, ending point (Cape Harbour?), slips for night if the weather gets bad, available fuel (93)?

Web site does have a "Map of the designated route stops", but not much usefull info.

It would really be nice to see us come together to support the Red Cross, but I need a little more info.

Captains meeting at the USCG station on Fort Myers Beach the evening before. Sounds like starting points will be varied. just have to make it to 5 stops and pick up your chips. Finish point will be at Cape Harbor. The Marina at Cape Harbor has offered slips at no charge for participants for the evening before and the evening of the event.

93 Octane is available at Gulf Harbor yacht basin which is across the river from Cape Harbor. It should also be available at Sanibel Harbor Yacht Club. I understand that you need to be a member in order to purchase fuel. I will check to see if they will accomodate Red Cross Scramble participants. If there is enough demand, I will arrange through Cape Harbor to bring in a truck of 93 octane to serve those who need it.

Please post up any other questions. I will answer them here and get the info posted on the Red Cross web site as well.

Tom.

Sounds like a great event. Sue and I should be able to be there. Pete

The Red Cross site has been updated with a list of participating on-the-water stops.

Start point is from wherever you happen to be (i.e. "wherever you are, that's where you are").

From Charlotte Harbor, a likely course might be: Cabbage Key, South Seas Plantation, The Green Flash, Jensens Marina. Or, pick the first 4 and run to Gramma Dot's on Sanibel for a late lunch and finish up at Cape Harbor on the river.

Folks starting from the south, there is a multitude of choices for stops to pick up your poker chips.

The Cards will be dealt between 4 and 6 at Cape Harbor. I hope one of you is dealt the Red Royal Flush and wins the boat.

Cape Harbor has a wonderful hotel/resort for anyone who wishes to spend the night. Dockage will be free for participants. We are also recruiting other hotels in the area to offer discounted room rates for the event.

If there is any additional info that you need, please feel free to email or call me. For the folks that have asked about shipping their boat, I will be happy to accept delivery here at the dealership and help you get to the water.

Looking forward to a fun day ....

Bringing this back to the top. The event is less than a week away. The weather, currently, looks good for Saturday. A 30% chance of storms is about as good as it gets here in Fl in June. As most of you are aware, if you don't like the weather in Southwest Florida, wait a half hour. It will change.

This will be a fun event, supporting a good cause. The entry fee is very reasonable with respect to what we are used to seeing; this one is $150 for the driver, copilot and first hand of cards. The first 200 hands of cards dealt will count toward the Grand Prize deck boat. Nothing could make me happier than if an OSO'er won the boat !

Please contact me with any questions that are not answered for you on the Red Cross site. I will be sure to get you answers or assistance.

I look forward to seeing you there.

T

Hi Tom-

Sounds like a fun event. Do you know how many boat are signed up? How many OSO memebers are going? I am interested in joining but would like to run with other OSO memebers or at least similar boats.

Thanks
Don

Don:

First, congratulations on the engagement !! Second, congrats on the new boat.

I have been contacted by about 15 OSOers. I don't expect registrations to pick up until tomorrow when we have a reasonably accurate weather forecast. Last time I looked, it looked like 10 mph breeze out of the SE with 1-2 foot chop.

I am taking one of my center consoles so that I can take the media people from Fox4 and Clear Channel radio. Frank from Charlotte Harbor had also expressed some interest in running. I spoke to some Nor-tech folks earlier today. I will know more tomorrow.

I look forward to seeing you.

Thanks Tom! Yeah it has been an exciting time for Amanda and I. I am not sure if we will be able to make the run this weekend because I still haven't ran the new boat yet, and it needs some work. Hopefully I can get it out soon.

Keep me posted

Thanks
Don

Folks:

Just got the call from the Red Cross; They are very concerned about the increased threat of thunderstorms and lightning for tomorrow. As this event was to showcase Boating Safety, it's a bit inconsistent to run the event during a lightning storm. So, they are postponing the Boat Scramble.

Thanks to all of you who planned on supporting this event. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

T

That’s a very smart thing to do. Look forward to another date.

I really wanted to attend, but the storm situation this time of year in the afternoons, would have prevented me from participating safely.