It was a little more than 15 years ago when I launched our very first poker run on the Great Lakes. From there, I designed and created the 1000 Islands Poker Run and brought this magnificent concept to this world-class vacation playgound.

Over the years, we've hosted this major venue in Kingston, Brockville and Gananoque, then back to Brockville. For the past several years, however, I've held the event in the town of Gananoque, Ontario.

For 2004, I'm pleased to announce that the 1000 Islands Poker Run will return to its original location, Kingston, Ontario, August 13-15.

We've gone back to our original route, touring the beautiful islands and Boldt Castle as in previous years - with card stops in Brockville, Rockport, and Prescott. Since Gananoque will be hosting its Riverfest on the same weekend as our poker run, logistics make it impossible to include the town as a scheduled stop.

The decision to return to Kingston was a direct result of answering the needs and requests of our participants as well as our Poker Run Advisory Council. Our original concept, just to explain, was to move the event each second year, rotating it from town to town, allowing each municipality to benefit from the tourism impact of hosting a poker run.

One very important point: Do not confuse our event with Gananoque's poker run. The town is planning to run its own first-ever local event next summer. The Poker Runs America/Power Boating Canada 1000 Islands Poker Run is not affiliated with this event in any way. Nor is Gananoque's run APRA-sanctioned.

We feel it is in the best interest of all our poker runners to be provided with the best available facilities, including accommodation, entertainment, dining, dockage and fueling.

It is vital that our poker runs remain independent, permitting organizers to select sites based on the needs of participants.

At this year's event, Power Boating Canada and Poker Runs America donated $14,000 to the Gananoque Rotary Club and local poker run committee, to benefit the charities and local projects of their choice.

We also donated an additional $5,000 to the Trillium Camp for Children, on behalf of Barkley Geib's Child SMILE America Tour.

Once again, we welcome our presenting series sponsor, Mercury Marine and Mercury Racing and I am happy to hear that each of our host cities is ecstatic about what will continue to be one of the world's largest, most entertaining performance boating weekends we have created. ( Top )