Friday, July 22, 2005
Poker players chip in for good cause and fun
PT Cruisers club members will play a roving poker game to pay family's medical bills.
Poker is generally assumed to be a sedentary game, with players rooted around a table gnawing on stale cigars and warily eyeing up the opposition.
On Aug. 6, those assumptions will be put to the test when area PT Cruiser drivers play in a roving poker game that will begin at Jerry's Family Restaurant in Vinton and end at the Callaway Speedway in Franklin County. The poker ride, organized by the Old Dominion PT Cruiser Club, is a fundraiser for Amanda and Thomas Tennies, whose 3-year-old son Dominick died June 1 of neuroblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer.
Charlie Hartman, a club member who is organizing the ride, said he was moved by the story of a young family losing a child.
"I have a 5-year-old grandchild and I have one that will be here in five weeks," the Vinton resident said recently. "It touched my heart. It felt like we had to do something for them."
The Tennies say they are grateful for the help. Proceeds from the game will help pay for Dominick's medical bills.
"We think it's going to be great," said Thomas Tennies, 36, of Roanoke.
Neuroblastoma is an aggressive form of cancer that attacks children's nerve tissues, said Jennifer Maksa, a volunteer at the Chicago-based Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Society. It strikes between 500 and 1,000 children a year.
Dominick was diagnosed with the disease at 2½ years old and died seven months later, shortly after his 3rd birthday. His parents said the disease's symptoms -- easy bruising, diarrhea, unusual sweating -- don't raise suspicion at first, so patients such as Dominick aren't diagnosed until late.
"It's usually not diagnosed until it's spread to the bone marrow," said Thomas Tennies, who joined the car club with his wife at Jerry's Restaurant a few weeks ago.
That's not uncommon, said Maksa. As a result, she said, only about 20 percent of children survive.
Ever since Dominick got sick, the family says it has seen a remarkable outpouring of public support. Strangers have contributed money and told the family they've prayed for the boy. A special prayer service was even held at the Vatican before Pope John Paul II died in April, said Wayne Sweeney, Amanda Tennies' father.
"It impressed the heck out of us," he said.
The PT Cruiser club is one of the supporters. It brings together owners and fans of the PT Cruiser, that rounded retro-looking car Chrysler rolled out in 2000. So far the club has 36 members and 26 vehicles, said Vinton resident Frances Gray, the club's president.
Every Friday, members park their Cruisers outside Jerry's restaurant and show off their models, many of which have been decorated and repainted. On July 1, the cars sat in the lot getting drenched by a summer downpour while their owners stood under the restaurant's awning and discussed the poker ride.
The club also aims "to do good deeds," said Jim Hancock, a member from Daleville. "And this poor child's parents are left with a humongous bill."
At 8 a.m. the morning of the game, PT Cruisers, motorcycles and other cars will gather outside the restaurant and draw one poker card. Then the caravan will proceed to the Little Chef Restaurant on Williamson Road, then to Fulton Motors on Franklin Road, then to Kingery Brothers Country Store on U.S. 220, drawing a poker card at each stop before reaching the Franklin County Speedway in Callaway where the riders will pick their last card and show their hands.
They'll also ride a victory lap around the track and, if some riders decide to get into the spirit of the track and take part in a little extracurricular racing, well, who's to stop them?
"You never can tell," said Randy Kingery, of the Kingery Brothers Country Store, who races at Callaway..
Now that Dominick's struggle is over, the Tennies have kept busy raising his 7½-month-old brother, Hayden Paul, and telling people about neuroblastoma. Raising awareness about the disease has become their crusade.
"You can't bring him back but maybe you can help somebody else," said Amanda Tennies, 25.
It's a view shared by the PT Cruiser club and the sponsors Hartman has lined up for the ride.
"I've been blessed with a lot of people in the Roanoke Valley stepping up to bat," he said. "It's what's in your heart."
