Although the Southern Independent Riders had to cancel their spring and summer events, including the St. Victor Boogie on Father’s Day weekend, the local motorcycle club is returning with one last event to close out the summer.
The annual Toyker Run is set to take place on Aug. 15, beginning at Centre Street park in Assiniboia and making the rounds through Limerick, La Fleche, Gravelbourg, and finishing at the clubhouse in Congress.
Club president Blake Padfield shared the details of the annual fundraiser, which features the aspects of both a toy run and a poker run combined into one cruise.
“We have a buy-in on all the poker hands and then we go from town to town and play a hand of poker in each,” said Padfield. “The winner gets half the pot and then our proceeds are donated to charity.’
The entry fee will be $10 for the first poker hand and $5 for any additional hands, and participants are also asked to bring an unopened toy to donate as well. The group will meet at 11 a.m. to collect entry fees, leaving town at noon.
All of the toys collected at the event will be donated to the Salvation Army, said Padfield, and financial proceeds from the event will also be donated to a local charity, which is yet undecided.
Things might look a little different this year at the Toyker Run, with the club planning around proper social distancing protocols, but Padfield is looking forward to finally hosting something in-person after a quiet summer — especially after having to cancel the 41st annual St. Victor Boogie.
“We’ll be keeping COVID in mind this year, maybe not sending everyone out at once and instead send people in intervals on the road, just to keep distant at each stop and so it doesn’t get too jammed up,” said Padfield.
At the end of the event, the club will also be drawing a winner for its annual bike raffle, which features a Harley Davidson Street Bob FXBB up for grabs.
The annual raffle is a big fundraiser for the club and for the Sylvan Valley Regional Park, home to the St. Victor petroglyphs, and the club is feeling the effects of COVID-19 on their ticket sales this year.
“[COVID-19] kind of hit us hard because a majority of our events that we go and sell tickets at were in March, April and May [and] so we’re kind of struggling that way this year,” said Padfield. “So we’ll have lots of bike tickets for sale on the poker run and we’re hoping to get some more sold.”
Tickets are still available, however, and people interested in buying a ticket before the draw can contact either Padfield at (306) 630-5445 or Kevin at (306) 267-7809, who can accept cash or e-transfers this year. Raffle tickets will also be available during the poker and toy run at each stop.
And as for the club, the Southern Independent Riders are just looking forward to next year.
“We’re just trying to keep it going business as usual,” said Padfield. “We had to cancel the St. Victor Boogie this year, and we’re just looking forward to hopefully putting it on next year.”
