10^th Annual Lake Geneva Poker Rally

By Ken Bounds • Photos by Dan Pudelek and Ken Bounds

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years.  After the sudden death of Lake Geneva Classic Car Rally founder George Kriessl and the final (30^th Annual) running of the event by his wife Jan in 2007, we wondered what we were going to do the last week in September.  We just decided, what the heck, we will keep going and held the 1^st Annual Lake Geneva Poker Rally September 22-24, 2007.

Flash forward a decade and we are still going strong.  On September 22, our large group began the first driving tour of the fall by gathering at the Town & Country Mall in Arlington Heights.  Driving Early    V-8s were Ken Bounds - 1950 Crestliner, John Emmering – 1951 Fordor, Joe & Nell Kozmic – 1937 Coupe, Joey & Millie Novak - 1953 Mercury, Dan & Diane Pudelek – 1950 Crestliner, and Joe & Delice Serritella – 1941 Coupe.  Larry Webb arrived in his 1963 Studebaker Hawk, accompanied by Virgie Burnquist. Driving modern iron were Carolyn Bounds (more on that later), Gary & Dawn Osborne, John & Este Scheve, John & Barb Slobodnik, and Ron & Colleen Steck.  Everyone donned their traditional tour buttons, donated again by Joey Novak.

As we meandered up secondary roads on our way to our lunch stop, many minds were on the weather.  We have been blessed with very nice weather for this rally over the years, with the last few years being in the 70s.  This year was different: daytime highs were predicted to be in the mid-90s with bright sunshine.  Even with that, the classic cars ran nearly flawlessly all weekend with only one minor instance of vapor lock Friday morning.

We try to find new routes every year and this year was no exception.  After many twists and turns, we arrived at our Wisconsin lunch destination, the Red Barn at Twin Lakes Country Club.  There we were met by Tom & Judy Buscaglia – 1951 Tudor and Ron Dopke with his friend Bernice in modern.  We also welcomed two of our newest members, Dick & Linda Livingston, to their first NIRG event.

Along with a nice lunch with great service, we drew our first poker card.  New this year was “pick a prize” for anyone drawing a Joker.  Joe Kozmic drew the first one and, of course, picked a 6-pack of Spotted Cow beer.

After lunch we took more back roads into Delavan and our home for the weekend, the Comfort Suites.  While checking in, our group presented a gift to manager Brenda for all her help with our group reservations over the past 12 years.  Soon it was time for the car games and people games.  Although fall officially began at 3:02 pm, because of the 95-degree temperature we decided to split into two groups.  The guys went out into the sun to play car games and the obviously smarter ladies stayed in the cool hotel to play people games.

Because of the heat, we only played two car games; but that didn’t mean we didn’t have a good time.  Blind toll booth again proved to be a lot of fun, but we missed the usual lively interaction between spouses driving and serving as the guiding passenger.  Tom Buscaglia didn’t win, but he got a special mention with a distance of 39 feet from the toll bucket.  Next we played plumb bob with several trying their hand while the peanut gallery sat in the shade with a cold drink making helpful comments.

Meanwhile, the ladies were having fun with three games: the V-8 buzzer, lugnut stacking, and assembling the tricky Mercury puzzle.  The guys decided to go inside and crash the party and tried their hand as well.  We also drew our second card.

Soon it was time to gather for the drive to Whiskey Ranch outside of Delavan for dinner.  The place was packed and loud, but everyone enjoyed their meal.  We were joined at dinner by the Livingston kids, Sarah and Joseph with his girlfriend Alex.  Back at the hotel we got to do something very rare for late September: sit in the parking lot in shorts and t-shirts solving the world’s problems.

Bright and early Saturday morning we gathered for our driving tour, this year to the state capital in Madison.  We took some interesting and scenic back roads and all arrived safely in time for our 11:00 tour of the capitol building.  Everyone thought it was beautiful and interesting and wished we had more time. Our tour guide was really informative.  After the tour most of us made our way up staircases to the outdoor observation deck circling the dome.  The views of the city and the surrounding lakes were spectacular.  Our group then gathered at the Great Dane where we enjoyed lunch.

After lunch we were off again to the beautiful Olbrich Gardens on the outskirts of Madison, where we drew our fourth poker card.  We all had time to wander the gardens, which were still stunning for the time of year, or take the tram around the outskirts of the garden for a narrated tour.

Next it was back to Delavan over a more direct, but still interesting, route.  Unfortunately, Carolyn had to leave us here to return home for an early morning business flight to Orlando.  Before long it was time to drive to Williams Bay to our final dinner location, Café Calamari.  We had a great meal in a packed restaurant and took a minute to draw the final card.  Because of the crowd, we decided to go back to the hotel for presentations and to wrap up the tour.

One of the highlights of the rally is the presentation of prizes.  We regret that some of the photos did not turn out very well.  Ken first presented a collectible 1941 license tab to Joe Serritella who intended to show his ’41 Coupe at the 2016 Central Meet but was prevented from doing so because of an accident.  Then came the prizes for the games.  First timer Dick Livingston took home 1^st Place in the People games while Gary Osborne took 2^nd.  The winner of the giant trophy in the car games was Ron Steck; Dan Pudelek was 2^nd.  Each of these four winners won $10 for their efforts, but that big trophy cannot be assigned a value.

In the Poker Rally, John Scheve won $20 for the low hand of 2-3-6-7-Jack.  The big winner of the coveted Dick Alfini Memorial Winning Hand award and $100 was first-timer Ron Dopke who drew to an outside straight on the final card.  Congratulations to all the winners.

We had one final award to present.  Periodically we give the Jerry Webb Memorial “Stop and Smell the Roses” award to someone who embodies the spirit and friendship that Jerry brought to the rally, even in difficult times.  This year Larry Webb assisted in presenting the award to Judy Buscaglia.  Well deserved.

Sunday morning the 10^th Annual Rally came to an end.  Some participants found more to do in the area, such as the wood boat show in Fontana, while others grouped up and headed home.  We thank everyone for their participation and look forward to the 11^th.