Saturday was the Iron Order Poker Run for Vets

I arrived at the Waterford VFW hall at Cross Roads and Boston Post Road a little before 11 AM. It was a busy morning and I was relieved to have made it at the time Jason said he expected to be there. As I pulled up I saw a bright, green Ultra Glide that could only belong to Dave Adams and was greeted by two members of the Iron Order.

As I stepped inside another member, Lawman, provided a paper that detailed the stops and included a spot to mark the card drawn at each stop. He also gave me a map and directions to the other stops, but the print was very small. I purchased some tickets for the raffle and fifty-fifty and went to sit with Dave & Rich (Hartford County Chairman) who were talking to another member called Nomad. Evidently the Iron Order is nationwide and international, and Nomad was, as his name indicated, not member of any one crew or location.

Marty and Tammy arrived on separate bikes and Jason showed up a short while later. 

The ride wasn’t officially supposed to start until Noon, but we were informed that they were already set up at the Old Saybrook VFW so we decided to run the route backwards. Actually we didn’t follow their route at all as Dave, Marty and Tammy were all familiar with the area and formulated our own route which was very enjoyable and precluded us from trying to decipher the fine print.

We were warmly received at the Old Saybrook VFW and it wasn’t long before Dave struck up a conversation with Crusher, the President of the New London Chapter, Old School Crew.

All of the Iron Order members have club names. If Dave had one, it should be Ice Breaker. His gift for the gab got everyone talking.

On the ride out to Old Saybrook we hopped onto I95 to cross the Connecticut River and saw a parking lot for miles on the Northbound side. (My wife got stuck in this same traffic about 7 hours later, but that’s another story). So we decided to head up to the bridge at the Goodspeed Opera House. From there Dave wove a beautiful ride through East Haddam and Lyme; full of partially shaded roads and single file twisties. But he kept the pace a little slower for Tammy who did a great job of holding her own and was never far behind. 

Our next stop was the RAFA (Retired Armed Forces Association) in New London.

At this point the air conditioning and ceiling fans were a welcome relief from the shade free environs of New London. But food beckoned and we were off to the Old Saybrook VFW, our last stop. They put on a nice spread of baked ziti (that got this Italian’s approval), a better than average salad, pizza, chili and hot dogs. The only downside was that you had to buy your drinks, even soft drinks, at the bar. I guess the VFW had to get something out of it.

I never expect to do well at poker runs and I’m seldom disappointed, but today was different. I started out with an Eight of Clubs and picked up a Five of Hearts in Old Saybrook. Then in New London my luck changed and I drew a Five of Spades. I would have been excited, but Tammy already had me beat with a pair of tens. Finally back at Old Saybrook we got to draw two cards. My first card was a Five of Clubs, giving me three of a kind and my second card was the Queen of Spades. For a dollar more I drew another card hoping for another five and four of a kind, but I drew the Queen of Diamonds and a Full House! Thanks to the low turnout, I actually had the best hand and won the grand prize a nice, large glass mug with the Iron Order logo.

 Dave Adams ended up with the worst hand and also won a prize.

All of the New London Motorcycle Club did well with the raffle.

 Marty and Tammy each won matching grease guns and assorted related materials

Rich won twice, but I don’t recall what he won. I won a $20 gift certificate to Smokey O’Grady’s in East Haddam. It got to the point where the Iron Order members started moving to our table to improve their luck….and it worked for Nomad who won twice!

All in all we had a very good time and the Iron Order really appreciated our participation and expressed their hope to do the same for us. Hopefully we can make a better showing at next year’s event.

Vincent Sileo