Saturday poker run to benefit Sehnerts

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A local poker run is back with a new purpose this year. The event will benefit the Sehnert family, who lost their possessions and the life of their 3-year-old son, Jaxon, after their Mitchell house caught fire April 20.

Jordan, his wife Jessica and son Jacob now live in Emery. The Army National Guard Combined Support Maintenance Shop Benefit Poker Run is Saturday. The formerly annual event has not been held for two years.

“The past two years (we’ve) had a lot of deployments,” said Chris Murray, one of the event’s planners. “Coming back to the shop, I decided to help out with the poker run.”

A poker run is an event in which participants visit five checkpoints and draw a card at each one. The goal is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run. Murray said all vehicles are welcome and anyone can participate. Jordan Sehnert returned from deployment to Iraq and Kuwait in March.

“It’s really nice of the guys who are doing it,” he said of the event. He was deployed with Murray and Matt Podhradsky for a year. The three didn’t know each other until they were placed in the same unit.

“We try to pick something that is worthy to donate to every year,” Podhradsky said. “It’s worthy to give it to him, so that’s what we decided on.”

Murray said they are trying to raise money to help the Sehnert family get re-established. Registration for the event is from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Saturday, with the run beginning at 1 p.m. The fee is $20 per person.

“We’re looking for a great turnout,” Murray said. “We have an awesome group of sponsors helping us out. Hopefully, we’ll get a good amount of money for the family.”

Before the run begins, there will be a silent auction to raise money for the Sehnert family. The poker run route starts at The Depot Pub and Grill in Mitchell and goes to Stickney, Corsica, Delmont and Parkston before ending back at the Depot.

Tags: poker run, jaxon sehnert, national guard, life, updates, charity, fire, military, veterans