The Junee Poker Run has been a staple of the town’s calendar for years now, proving this once again on Saturday with over 400 riders turning out for the ride around the region before participating in the Blues Night at the Showgrounds.
The 21st annual Junee Poker Run supports local cancer support charity Can Assist Junee, raising a significant amount each year that makes up a large percentage of their overall earnings.
This year saw riders take on a 250km round trip through North Wagga, Tarcutta, Tumut and Tumblong before returning to Junee. The usual Poker tradition of collecting playing cards at each stop to get the best poker hand continued, with a $1,000 prize.
The group started around 9:30 am on Saturday, led by former committee president Tony Fitzgerald in recognition of his long-standing service.
Stops included the Black Swan Hotel in North Wagga, the Tarcutta Hotel, Tumut Golf Club and Tumblong Tavern, with locals lining streets, driveways and footpaths to welcome riders in each town.
The best hand of the day, worth $1000, was won by Pat Cummins, who drew four of a kind.
All-day catering was provided by Can Assist Junee and Junee Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers from breakfast at the Junee Showgrounds, to lunch at the Tumut Golf Club and dinner back in Junee.
Two support vehicles travelled with the ride to assist any riders in need, helping to ensure the event remained safe and incident-free.
While temperatures soared during the afternoon, spirits remained high. The final stop at Tumblong saw riders collecting their last cards.
Local artist Harry Pratt opened the night, followed by headline act Marshall and the Fro and pub rock favourites Radio Velvet.
The event also saw the drawing of Can Assist’s major raffle, with Graham Manning winning a choice between a $1500 Flight Centre voucher or $1500 in fuel.
Natalie Phillips, former Can Assist branch president and Junee’s 2026 Citizen of the Year, was drawn second, winning $500 in fuel.
Fiona Rynehart, President of Junee Can Assist, spoke about what it meant to have this event backing them each year.
“There were over 400 riders on the day, and it was such a hot day. All went well, and we served them up at Tumut at the Golf Club, and we served 460 people in 44 minutes.
“The bushfire guys did a great job cooking the barbecue. They had it all organised to send it upstairs to us. We had all the salads out, all the volunteers there to get them through and out the door. It was very good, absolutely wonderful. We had so many volunteers.
“We had 18 volunteers up there on Saturday for lunch. It was really good. Our master up there of getting the people in and out were Derek and Rita Broad. They did a great job.
“It was very good. It was a busy day, very warm and then night time we had a bit of a change and did some chicken and gravy rolls and legs of lamb and gravy rolls, and they went down very well.
“We did the presentations a bit earlier this year, and that worked out very well because people were there to see who won all the different awards, like the best poker hand and the people who won our raffle.
“It went down really well, it was all organised. This year, we also had Sammy, who does the crazy pizzas, and you could buy pizzas from him as well. He was very busy, so it was a great night for all.
“Jen went really well. She got up and gave her speech at the end. It was really good. She did extremely well, and the committee was well organised and well executed.
“We will have our meeting, and we’ll get together and work out who did what and where we need to go for next year to get stuff organised for next year now.
“We’ve just started discussing it all and what we need to do and what we don’t need to do.
“Thank you again to all our volunteers for coming up to Tumut. It was a lovely drive up there. As I said, very warm, but we had a great time up there.
“On the 14th March, we’ve got the golf day coming up. That’s a big day. That’s 120 golfers just on Saturday, 14 March, and we will be doing lunch for them.”
Jen Parsons, who took the President role for the first time this year and was pleased to see it all go smoothly.
“It turned out quite successful. We started off, and we went to the Black Swan in Wagga, across to Tarcutta and then up to Tumut Golf Club for lunch, and then we came back through Tumblong and stopped at the Tavern there for the last stop and then back to Junee for the Blues Night. It was good. It was a nice ride. It was a bit warm, but everyone seemed to be okay with it and still enjoyed the day.
“We did get a bit of rain at the blues night, which was a bit at the start of it, but it didn’t seem to stop too many, and it cleared after a while, so that was good.
“The Blues night was great. Harry Pratt kicked us off, and he was wonderful. Marshall and the Fro were really great entertainers, and then Radio Velvet, who were fantastic. As usual, it finished the night off really well with all of their entertainment.
“It means everything to be able to do this. That’s why we do it, for Can Assist. We all put in so much effort each year, not only through the year, but setting up, doing the whole day and then packing up and everything afterwards. It’s a monumental effort, but it means even more that we can give back to our community and to those who are going through a tough time.
“It’s rewarding in any position, even just being on the committee or being a volunteer on the day, to see everyone have such a great time and all the money and knowing where the money goes, it is very rewarding, and it’s one of the reasons we get up to do it each time.
“We will have more of an idea in the coming weeks once we finish paying out the money we need to and getting other money in, how much we’ve raised for Can Assist.
“We do still have some shirts available if people would still like to buy a shirt. They can message us through the Facebook page.”
More to come once the final cheque is handed out to Can Assist.
– Jack Murray
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