Pirates Of Lanier Charity Poker Run Cancelled

According to an announcement from the Lanier Partners of North Georgia—the non-profit charitable organization behind the annual Pirates of Lanier Charity Poker Run, next month’s event in Buford, Ga., has been cancelled because of apprehension surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

While there likely will still be plenty of pirates on Lake Lanier in mid-July, the annual Pirates of Lanier Charity Poker Run has been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy Lanier Partners of North Georgia

“As a board, Lanier Partners/Pirates of Lanier has decided, with regret, to cancel the event this year,” the announcement stated. “With the uncertainty of the challenging and changing situation of COVID-19 and our goal to ensure the health and safety of our supporters, volunteers and the community, we have not made this decision lightly. “Recent spikes in June across the country, including several states in the Southeast, the issue of people traveling from out of town and the very active agenda we had planned for the weekend are simply not suited for these uncertain times. We hope that everyone will understand.”

The release went on to explain that the poker run, which has become a highlight of summer on Lake Lanier, is still planning to make a donation to each of the children’s charities that benefit from the event, including Camp Sunshine, Camp Twin Lakes, Boys & Girls Clubs of Lanier and the Edmondson-Telford Center.

According to Barkeley Glieb, a longtime LPNG board member, the organizers were moving forward as planned up until this week. But, with the event less than 30 days away, the unpredictability of how to handle the gathering portions of the event became too critical to ignore.

The announcement of the annual event comes on the heels of other event cancellations recently, including the 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run in New York, the Powerboating For A Cure Poker Run in Virginia and the Rockin the Harbor Poker Run in Maryland.

“So far everyone has been pretty positive about the decision,” Glieb said. “We look forward to hosting the event again in 2021 and we hope everyone will join us once again for an incredible weekend on the lake.”

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