Antique tractor poker run raises $16,000 for DAV van fund
ADRIAN — Every 10 years or so, the Disabled American Veterans chapter in Lenawee County buys a new van to transport veterans to medical appointments in Ann Arbor.
The $16,000 the chapter received last week from the organizers of an antique tractor poker run will go a long way toward buying the next van.
Steve Sommers of Britton and Bill Bailey of Tecumseh presented the check to representatives of DAV Chapter 20 on Monday at the Human Services Building in Adrian, where the county’s Veterans Affairs department is.
This year’s poker run, the fourth annual, took place Aug. 13. It raised $6,200 for multiple sclerosis last year.
“We talked all through the year if we got $10,000 we’d be lucky,” Sommers said. When this year's donations were added up, “we couldn’t believe it.”
“People were very generous,” Bailey said.
Antique tractor owners came from as far away as Birch Run in mid-Michigan and Fayette, Ohio. The tractors had to be at least 50 years old to be in the run. Some dated back to the 1930s. In all, there were 211 tractors and more than 300 people who participated in the 30-mile run in the Britton and Tecumseh areas. It started at Bailey Farms and ended at Wielfaert Farms with stops at J & L Sports Center and Paul and Linda Hewlett’s farm.
Paul Dye, DAV chapter commander, said the donation will enable the chapter to buy a new van when it is needed. He said DAV chapters work with the national DAV to buy vans, with the chapters being responsible for 55% of the cost.
Sommers said Nick Pulver of Deerfield connected the poker run organizers with the local DAV so that they would know to make the donation to the DAV’s van fund to make sure the money went toward that purpose.
The county’s veterans affairs department coordinates the appointments to take the van to the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs hospital, said Audricka Jacob, veterans relief advocate at the county’s veterans affairs department. The current van can hold nine passengers, but because the VA hospital is still operating under COVID-19 protocols they’re only taking three passengers at a time and they must wear masks. The federal VA pays for the insurance on the van as well as gas and maintenance.
The county and DAV are always looking for drivers for the van, Jacob said. Drivers can be civilians or veterans, men or women. The positions are not paid, and the drivers have to be able to allow time to wait at the hospital in Ann Arbor. Anyone interested in being a driver may call Jacob at 517-264-5335.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Antique tractor poker run raises $16,000 for DAV van fund
