Once again the Lake Erie Offshore Performance Association hosted a fantastic event for its club members and many other guests who participated in the Thunderfest Poker Run to Put-in-Bay, Ohio on Friday and Saturday.
Putting on a poker run means the event promoter must arrange for volunteers to run the various checkpoints along the way. If the route is a loop, he or she may be able to reduce the number of volunteers needed by placing the same volunteers from checkpoint one on checkpoint four which will open later in the day. Jul 14, 2017 For the longstanding club members of the Lake Erie Offshore Performance Association, this year’s Thunderfest poker run to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, that takes place Saturday, August 5, is expected to be a special one. Not only is the club returning to the popular island on Lake Erie, the event sold out in.
Thanks to good weather, the turnout for the LEOPA Thunderfest Poker Run was up this year. Photos by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
Following last year’s revitalization of the fun run to and from Put-in-Bay, which was successful despite unfavorable weather and watercraft advisories on Lake Erie, the LEOPA members were blessed with excellent weather and water conditions last week and the turnout was larger because of it.
“We had more than 70 boats on hand this year and overall the weekend was a lot of fun,” said Jeff Upholzer, LEOPA’s treasurer who did the run with his wife, Teri, in their 36-foot Avanti center console. “It definitely helped that we had better lake conditions and nicer weather this year. Friday night’s cocktail party at T&J’s SmokeHouse, which was sponsored by American Custom Marine, was great and the Saturday night dinner and awards party at Niagara Events Center was excellent. I’m pretty sure everyone had a good time.
“The lunch stop on Saturday at Lyman Harbor was amazing—they really went all out for us between the lunch spread and the band that performed,” Upholzer continued, making sure to thank the many event sponsors, including American Custom Marine, Todd Fountain’s Dynamic Fire Protection Inc. and Joe Gilstorf’s Home Specialist Inc., among others. “Anchor Point was a fun stop, too. It was the first one and it was the one we ended up cancelling last year because of the weather so it was good to get out there this time around.”
Check out the slideshow above for more of Boden's images from the LEOPA Thunderfest Poker Run.
Upholzer, who expects the event to continue to grow, said he was impressed by the “wow factor” of the boats on hand for the Thunderfest Poker Run, which was a fundraiser for the National Muscular Sclerosis Society.
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“LEOPA is made up of a really good group of people and Thunderfest is a direct extension of that,” said Mike Knoblock, the owner of American Custom Marine in Kimball, Mich., who did the run in Mamba, his 51-foot canopied Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats V-bottom. “I like to see the association grow and this event is helping. We had a great time. The weather was good—it was a little hot but bearable—and the turnout of people was pretty remarkable.”
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LEOPA Planning Return To Put-In-Bay After Successful Thunderfest Poker Run
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For the longstanding club members of the Lake Erie Offshore Performance Association, this year’s Thunderfest poker run to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, that takes place Saturday, August 5, is expected to be a special one. Not only is the club returning to the popular island on Lake Erie, the event sold out in three days with 75 registered boats and is going to raise money for a charity that several members are connected with personally.
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The LEOPA Thunderfest is headed to Ohio's Put-in-Bay in a few weeks. Photo courtesy Put-in-Bay Visitors & Convention Bureau
According to Dave Powell, a founding member, past commodore and current chairman of the board, it’s been several years since LEOPA, which was founded in 1989, organized a full-scale event to Put-In-Bay.
“Based on past experience we knew that poker runs to Put-in-Bay generally attract some nice hardware and this year will be no different,” said Powell, who owns a rare 39-foot Aronow catamaran powered by twin 900-hp engines. “Because it’s such a popular destination, the location draws more interest and gives us the potential to attract new members once they see what the club is all about.
“As usual we also have a charitable side to Thunderfest,” he continued. “We try to find a different worthwhile charity almost every year and this time around we’ve selected the Autistic Children of American. We have some members with personal ties to the organization so we’ve decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to ACA.”
Of course anyone interested in attending the run won’t be able to sign up with their boats but they can still come out to the lake according to Nikole Gilstorf, LEOPA’s treasurer, and check out the boats at one of the stops, which include the Bilge Bar at Anchor Point in Curtis, Lyman Harbor in Sandusky and Rustic Oar in Huron, or at Put-in-Bay.
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Gilstorf, whose husband Joe is LEOPA’s current commodore, said the Saturday festivities taking place at Niagara Events Center in Put-in-Bay are going to be open to anyone who wants to join the group for the dinner and fundraiser. She also said there’s a VIP Party sponsored by American Custom Marine set for Friday at TJ's Smokehouse.
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Editor's note: Pete Boden, speedonthewater.com's chief photographer, is going to be on hand to capture the Thunderfest action. For more details on the event, check out leopa.com.