That’s right — this Saturday, Sept. 3 is the Dallas Pride Poker Run. Whether your baby is 40 or 25, you can pack her on the back of your bike, or let her bring her own bike for a fun time and a good ride with Pride.
The facts: Donation is $10 per hand, and registration is from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Outsiders (650 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre), where you’ll draw the first card of your hand. Other stops on the ride are Jim-Mill Tavern in Hunlock Creek, The Deer Oak on Route 239, Rickett’s Glen Hotel on Route 118 near Red Rock and then back to Outsiders where there will be food and a cash bar. The last card will be drawn at 6 p.m.
All the funds go to support the officers and families of the corrections department. These funds help all correctional families, whether they are part of the motorcycle club or not. You just have to be a family or member of the corrections department. You don’t even have to have a motorcycle, just be a correctional employee. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at the Kingston V.F.W. (386 #2, Wyoming Ave., Kingston). All meetings are open to the public. If you are a corrections employee, you can come, learn about the chapter and think about joining the Dallas Chapter.
Each year, the Dallas Chapter of Pride runs three events: The Spring Fling, Championship Sunday held on Super Bowl Sunday and the fall Poker Run. Currently, there are 107 members.
Riding motorcycles is not only a way to get to work, but a way to relax and socialize with other corrections officers outside the prison walls. Inside the walls, it’s a daily battle to keep order in a place you wouldn’t want to visit on a good day. Yet, every day these officers — men and women — put on their uniforms and walk into a world of social chaos where some of the most desperate men are incarcerated, some for life.
I met with Joel Mortimer, chapter president, and Sam Bower, vice president at Outsiders to learn more about the run and about Pride itself. I came away with a better understanding of what it takes to walk into a prison every day. Stories about working in a place where people can throw feces at you, or you get stabbed in the neck with a pen and where your guard has to be up all the time. Bower, who works in “the hole,” told of one inmate that actually ate his feces, and one that drew on the walls of his cells with it.
“When we run we work, if you see us running, get out of the way,” Mortimer said.
These people work 24/7, every weekend and even on Christmas. They just don’t shut down the prison. Not even during Hurricane Irene. The power went out, but the prison ran on generator power. On that day, the prisoners were all placed on lockdown. Apparently, it’s much safer if the power goes out, since inmates will throw things at the guards, like soap or whatever they have handy.
Bower said, “(Pride) is growing so fast I can’t keep up with it. The newest chapter is Cambridge Springs.”
The weather report looks great for Saturday, so pack up your baby and join Pride Dallas on a really fun poker run.
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