Unknown Motorcycle Club Makes Pit Stop For Kids

Poker fans will soon have a chance to participate in a game while doing some good along the way.

The Unknown Motorcycle Club will be hosting its annual Toy and Poker Run.

“This is our 35th year in a row collecting toys on the Coastside,” said James Holsman, president of

The Unknown Motorcycle Club. “We leave boxes out at all the post offices. We collect toys all the

way from Thanksgiving to just a little past Christmas.

“The toys go to local families and are distributed by the Adopt-a-Family program, which is sponsored

by Coastside Hope,” he continued. “Everything stays here. The community provides all the toys. We

just facilitate it.”

Holsman estimates that the club collects truckloads of toys each year.

The club’s toy drive is unique in that members collect toys past Christmas. Toys not used in the current

year by Coastside Hope and the Adopt-a-Family program are stored for future use.

Poker players looking to do a little good this holiday season can bring a toy and participate in the club’s

poker run.

The run starts at the American Legion Post 474 and progresses down the coast.

“There are five stops. At each stop you get a card, so there are five cards,” said Holsman. “We start at the

Legion and then go to Duarte’s, Apple Jack’s in La Honda, and then the San Gregorio Store. The last stop?

We decide that en route, so it’s kind of a surprise.”

Although many of the participants will be on motorcycles, Holsman says that you don’t have to have a bike to

participate. “Some people just follow us with cars,” he said. “We take the backroads. It’s a nice ride.”

It costs $10 per hand to participate. You can purchase multiple hands. The winner takes half of the proceeds.