by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
People from all over the country visited Jacksonville June 9-12 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Jacksonville Police and Fire River Rally Poker Run by traveling the St. Johns River from Jacksonville to St. Augustine.
The colorful boats that could reach speeds of more than 100 mph could be seen riding on trailers through Downtown Jacksonville Thursday afternoon, but preparations for the event began long before the boats reached the city limits.
“We take some time off after the rally weekend to recuperate, but we start the initial planning for the next year’s rally about a month later,” said Jill Haskell, an event coordinator who is president of Haskell’s Marine, one of the oldest marine dealers in Northeast Florida.
“But that includes going to other poker runs to get ideas on how we can make ours better,” she said.
The event provides a fun weekend for its participants, but at the same time it helps raise money for charity each year. This year’s Charity was Camp Amigo, which is a Children’s Burn Camp of North Florida and provides kids who have physical and emotional scars a place to build a network of support. The camp is fully funded by private donations and the campers stay free of charge.
“The charity really ties into our roots because our founder, Bill Pyburn, was a firefighter and he has a firsthand knowledge of what these kids are going through physically and emotionally,” said Haskell. “So it’s great to be able to help out an organization that helps kids overcome so much.”
Haskell, along with her father, Buddy Haskell, also helped participants on the river during the poker run Saturday. They were the “start boat” prior to the race and helped urge fans of the poker run to watch from a safe distance.
“You’re not going to want to be here in about 10 minutes,” Buddy Haskell told a boater poised to watch the race from in front of the middle of the pack of 65 boats preparing to slide the throttle forward Saturday.
Ten minutes later, the yellow flag dropped, engines roared to life and the poker run began.
Jill Haskell made a prophetic statement before the run began.
“The thing about these high performance boats that cost so much money,” she said, “they break.”
The Haskells visited three boats that experienced a problem shortly after the race started. All were able to “limp” back to the docks.
A boat spotted idling near Fleming Island Marina developed a problem with one of its two propellers. The Haskells stopped, found that the boat could still operate with one propeller and pointed them to the nearest marina. They also had the shuttle bus meet them at the marina, so they could retrieve their truck and trailer.
“We want to make sure everyone has a good time and get them help if they need it,” she said.
356-2466