Sunday, August 24, 2008 10:17 PM CDT
First annual Wheels for Wellness Poker Run hits the road
By DAWN JAMES, Staff Writer
djames@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Approximately 50 participants helped kick off the first annual Wheels for Wellness Poker Run event hosted Saturday by the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center Foundation and several area sponsors.
The fund-raising event was part of the hospital’s Creating Healthy Communities One Child at a Time effort that focuses on three specific programs: Women and Children First Dental Program; Jump-start, a program that focuses on teaching children about nutrition, exercise, and their health; and the nationally recognized “I Sing the Body Electric” wellness program.
Bicycles, motorbikes, cars, buses and trucks were all welcome to travel in their choice of two designated routes, one north and one south, for the event.
“We had one man with a motorbike and a sidecar with a bulldog (in the sidecar),” said Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center President and CEO Gary Barnett.
The northern route had participants starting at Sarah Bush and stopping at seven of its clinics, including sites in Mattoon, Sullivan, Arthur, Arcola, Oakland and Charleston.
At each designated location, participants picked up a card in hopes of having the best poker hand at the end of the route.
Participants, who paid $10 per vehicle and $40 for each hand/tally card, were hoping to win one of 10 prizes that were given away at the end of the day.
The southern route began at Sarah Bush with stops in Charleston, Casey, Toledo, Effin ham, Neoga and then back to Sarah Bush.
“We tried to keep the routes to 100 to 115 miles,” said Kim Lockart, event coordinator.
Others who chose to bike chose smaller routes, travelling to Sarah Bush from their respective cities including Oakland, Charleston and Arthur.
Bicyclist Rodney Wilman, who works in the SBLHC sleep lab, started his journey from the Sarah Bush parking lot at 10 a.m., rode to Sullivan and arrived back at around 1 p.m., he said.
He traveled approximately 60 miles.
“It couldn’t have been more perfect,” said Lockart. “This is definitely going to be an annual event.”
Lockart credited sponsors Steve Honselman of Honselman Farms of Casey, The Casey State Bank, and The First Neighbor Bank of Casey for all of their support in the day’s festivities.
In addition, she said the administrative team from SBHLC was also instrumental in the event’s success, as were board members.
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