Gearheads took to the roads of East Lewis County this past weekend for the county’s annual Gambler 500 event, organized by Veterans Memorial Museum Director Chip Duncan.
A total of 78 cars took part in this year’s event, which had cars setting out from the Lewis County Fire District 14 fire house in Randle on a poker run visiting local businesses while also picking up illegally dumped trash from throughout the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Last year, more than 2,000 pounds of trash were collected.
“I would say several tons of trash were picked up this year,” Duncan told The Chronicle during a phone call Monday following the event.
“We haven’t gotten the exact weight back yet since they just picked up the dumpster yesterday and I haven’t gotten the invoice yet.”
Following the completion of the poker run, Gambler 500 participants also took part in an overnight campout in Randle along with HooptieX rally racing.
Proceeds from the event go toward the museum and Veterans Journey Forward, a local nonprofit that provides counseling and resources for veterans in Lewis County.
Duncan first became involved with Gambler 500 events in 2018. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest has become an illegal dump site lately, according to Duncan, which prompted him to move the race to the region after initially holding it in Chehalis.
Racers drove a loop through Randle, Packwood, Ashford, Elbe, Mineral, Morton and Glenoma and explored Forest Service roads leading to Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams throughout the race while they collected trash.
The Gambler 500 originally began in Oregon in 2014 as an endurance challenge among 28 drivers to see whose junker car could survive a 500-mile off-road race, according to Car and Driver magazine. Gambler 500 events are now held nationwide and internationally.
The Veterans Memorial Museum is located at 100 SW Veterans Way in Chehalis. For more information, visit https://www.veteransmuseum.org/ or call the museum at 360-740-8875.
To learn more about Veterans Journey Forward, visit https://www.veteransjourneyforward.org/.
