Seventeen years ago a group of firemen wanting to provide scholarships decided to launch a new North Country event: an Annual Firefighters Snowmobile Ride-In & Poker Run.

It works like this. Over a course traversing 35-40 miles you and your snowmobile make 7 stops, rain or shine. At each stop you collect a card and an eclectic mix of food. If the weather is nice, you'll also have a blast meeting a host of new friends. At the 7th stop you select the best 5 card poker hand from the 7 cards you collected. The hands are compared (imagine a table with 200+ players) and the best three hands take home cash prizes. There's also a 50/50 raffle which sometimes nets the winner $450-500.

But that's not really what the event is all about.

For $5 a hand ($20/family) you get quality family fun, and a chance to help 3 deserving young people receive a $500 scholarship. The 7 servings of Hors D'oeuvres/Food is just the icing on the cake.

The event is sponsored by the Colebrook, Pittsburg, & Beecher Falls (VT) Fire Departments as well as the 45th Parallel EMS.

The February 13th event begins with registration from 8::00-11:00 am at the Colebrook Fire Station and ends at 4:00 pm at the Beecher Falls Fire Station. Special permitting for the event allows sleds to traverse the designated course while only being registered in one of the two participating states. And if you don't have a sled, no worries: you can purchase a full hand at either the Colebrook or Beecher Falls Stations. In an average year, 200-250 hands are played.

The three annual scholarships are awarded to students graduating from the Pittsburg, Colebrook or Canaan, VT high schools enrolling in emergency services education. Winners are selected by a combination of their essay, grade point average & financial need, and the scholarships are paid after students' successful completion of their first college semester.

If you'd like more information about the event, contact Fire Chief Steve Young by email or call any of the 3 fire stations.

Beecher Falls   802-266-8242
Colebrook   603-237-8242
Pittsburg   603-538-6972



Posted 1/4/16