HUMBOLDT 鈥� The weather is looking good for the upcoming Humboldt Vintage Club poker rally.
The club is pairing up with the Naicam Snowblasters to put on their main fundraiser on Feb. 23 at the Humboldt Vintage Club on Highway 20.
Craig Poncelet, the club鈥檚 treasurer, said that he is hoping for more machines than last year since the bitterly cold weather did not help bring people out to support the club.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping it鈥檚 a nice weekend and people will come out and ride. We are hoping for more snow but we have enough for the trails.鈥�
Members of the Naicam Snowblasters will be helping out with registration as well as providing the trail for people to enjoy on the day. Riders will have the choice of a short circuit to Muenster and around back to the Vintage club, or the long circuit around the Humboldt and St. Peter鈥檚 RMs and back. Poncelet said some older machines do not have the same speed and power as newer models but riders will still have the opportunity to take them out for a ride.
鈥淩iding cross country on some of those old sleds can be pretty hard on people. It鈥檚 rough so it鈥檚 easier to do it on the trails.鈥�
Considering the location of the rally, the Vintage Club still has the old auction ring available for use. Poncelet said they will be putting it to good use with a live auction, including two Saskatchewan Rush jerseys and two game tickets up for sale.
鈥淗aving that auction ring, you might as well use it for an auction. It鈥檚 a neat little thing we can do.鈥�
Also included during the day are poker hands for sale, door prizes, bucket draws, the infamous Vintage Club elephant ears, and raffles. Raffle ticket sales are going well for a 1972 Arctic Cat Cheetah, Poncelet said, and he is expecting tickets to be sold out that day.
While the club appreciates the much-needed support for their main fundraiser, Poncelet said they will work with what they have to make the day a success.
There are always repairs that need to be done at the Vintage Club, Poncelet said, so that is where the money raised this year will go towards, specifically a new furnace in the main museum as well as an electric furnace that feeds to one of the outlying buildings.
鈥淲e can spend quite a bit of money a month without anybody coming in.鈥�
Everyone is welcome, whether it is to come out to bid on the auction, buy a poker hand, or just to have an elephant ear. Registration will open at 9 a.m. with the live auction starting at 4 p.m.
