Annual poker run to benefit Old Capital Heritage Center project

Published 7:00 am Monday, July 15, 2024

Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center is hosting its fifth annual Poker Run Saturday, July 20, on Lake Sinclair. 

All boats and jet skis are welcome. 

The poker run is a scavenger hunt that is a mock up of the card game poker. Players will meet at Dennis Station at 9:15 a.m. to receive their maps and instructions. A representative from the Department of Natural Resources will give players a short briefing before the start of the Poker Run at 10 a.m. Players pick up playing cards from marked locations on their maps. Teams and players must pick up a card from each location in the poker run. 

Players will return to Dennis Station by 2:45 p.m. to reveal their hands. Using five card poker rules, the best hand will receive $1,000 and the second place hand will receive $500. Players will have the option to buy up to two additional playing cards to increase the strength of their hand. 

Registration is $75 per player. This includes a voucher for a cookout style lunch on Goat Island catered by Aubri Lane’s and The Club at Lake Sinclair and a concert by Fall Line Rambler. Tickets purchased onsite will not include a lunch voucher. 

Proceeds from the event will support renovations of Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at the Depot. 

“Our goal is to keep history alive in Milledgeville, Baldwin County and the Oconee River Basin and promote historic preservation,” said Amy Wright, executive director at Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at The Depot. 

Originally, Georgia’s Old Capital Museum, a museum of regional history, was located on the ground floor of the Old Capital building. In 2017, the museum moved to Renaissance Park on the campus of the former Central State Hospital. 

The center purchased a historic house, named it the Just Imagine Cottage, and established base operations. The Just Imagine Cottage name serves as a reminder of the work that needed to be done at the house in order for the center to turn it into an office. 

“We began to walk through and say just imagine, just imagine how it will look,” said Wright. “And we thought about it, and thought that it would be the perfect name for the house.”

In addition to Just Imagine Cottage, Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center also features the Brown-Stetson-Sanford House, located at 601 W. Hancock St. Built in 1825, the former inn, tavern, private home and restaurant now serves as a museum and is open for tours. According to GOCHC’s website, its relocation in 1966, “sparked the local preservation movement and the creation of the Downtown Historic District.”

GOCHC’s current project is restoring the old depot to convert it into a museum. Located on Central State Hospital’s campus, the depot dates back to 1891. GOCHC has currently finished the renovations of the exterior of the building, stabilizing the brick and eliminating surface water issues. Restorations to the loading dock have been completed as well as conversion of space into a green room for exhibits. This room is currently the location of “The History of Central State Hospital” exhibit. This exhibit is open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by reservation. Tickets are $10 a person. 

While GOCHC has big plans for future restorations of the old depot, it is unknown when they will be complete. Restorations to the three buildings operated by GOCHC are reliant on funding. The Heritage Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is independently supported. The center receives its fundings through memberships, donations, grants and fundraisers, like the poker run. 

“This is why we can’t just go out and build out the depot,” said Wright. “We have to raise the money.”

The fifth annual Poker Run on Lake Sinclair promises to be a fun and engaging event for participants while also supporting the vital work of preserving local history through the Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center.

For more information on the poker run or Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center, call 478-453-1803 or email awight@thedepotga.org.