Townsend Area Chamber Of Commerce ATV Poker Run
 | Author:
Matt Nelson
MT43 News Correspondent |
Townsend Area Chamber Of Commerce ATV Poker Run Matt Nelson On Saturday, June 10th the Townsend Chamber of Commerce sponsored another All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Poker Ride in the Elkhorns. This was to benefit the Broadwater County Search and Rescue (BCSAR) team, the city/county Fire Department, and the county Ambulance Services. This is the 10th year that this event has occurred here; it was started by Chamber board member Bob Saxby. Tim Pool is the President of the Chamber and is given the title “Cheerman!” He was at the fairgrounds both at the beginning and the end of the ride.
When the event was first started, there were only about 40 ATVs but now it has grown to about 240. Many came from out of state. All the participants met at the fairgrounds in the morning prior to the official start which began at 9 AM. The first checkpoint was at Winston, and then the riders went up Weasel Creek. They followed Eagle Creek Road to Hall Creek Road, and from there they drove to S. Fork Crow Creek, down along Crow Creek itself until they got to Mud Springs, up to Iron Mask, and then back to the fairgrounds via Indian Creek Road and Highway 287.
Bob Saxby was stationed at the last checkpoint, which was number 5, near the junction of Mud Springs and the turnoff to Iron Mask. One of the sponsors was KETTLEHOUSE Brewing Company out of Helena; there was a sign on Bob’s truck with this name, plus the words CHECKPOINT 5. This reporter was with Bob for a couple of hours. During that time about 25 of the mud-spattered ATVs stopped at this checkpoint. Most had endured a heavy thunderstorm and lots of water across the trail. One of the drivers said, “It was wet, it was muddy, but it was FUN!” Most of the ATVs had two people riding, but there were some people flying solo, and other machines had up to four riders. One man was with a boy about 5 years old, and that young man had a grin that stretched from Canyon Ferry Lake to the top of the Elkhorns! He was probably the youngest, but there were several couples who had to spend some of their social security money to enter the ride ($20 online registration and $30 for registration at the fairgrounds).
From the view of a ground pounder not riding the trails, the different types and colors of the ATVs were most interesting. Several people had the dogs along with them. Unfortunately, there is not enough space in this newspaper to print out all the photos of the riders and their ATVs that came through Checkpoint 5 during those two hours.
Back at the fairgrounds veterans from the American Legion Post 42 served dinner, and there was a grand prize for the ATV Poker Ride of $1000 given away to Dylan Bigelow of Bozeman by local EMT Chris Southworth. Congratulations, Dylan!
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PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson and Tim Pool
Image 1 Caption: Chris Southworth presents Dylan Bigelow of Bozeman the $1000 grand prize
Image 2 Caption: This young boy's grin stretched between Canyon Ferry Lake and the top of the Elkhorn Mountains.
Image 3 Caption: There were lots of laughs from these two groups of people in the ATV Poker Ride.
