Toys Tour Set Up For Another Banner Year

Though “Raceboat” Rus Matos died in late 2019, the Toys Tour—a powerboating event he founded 24 years ago to collect toys for children in Putnam County, Fla.—still thrives. The 2023 event on the St. Johns River attracted registered 281 participants and more than 100 boats to the Central Florida city of Palatka. Better still, those participants gathered thousands of toys for those children.

Registration is still open for the 2024 Toys Tour early next month in Palatka, Fla. Photo by Walter Braithwaite, Jr.

More than 200 participants have already signed up for this year’s happening, which is set for December 5-8. Registration and sponsorship opportunities for the event are still open. So far, 67 boats are registered.

The basic schedule remains the same. Pre-registered participants can check in Thursday and Friday. On-site registration is only offered on Saturday morning.

The on-water activities begin Friday morning with a mandatory drivers’ meeting followed by a “staging” lunch run from the Crystal Springs Marina host venue to Dunns Creek, Crescent Lake and 3 Bananas restaurant. Like the Friday trek, the official Toys Tour fun starts Saturday morning with a mandatory drivers’ meeting before the boats depart to deliver their toys to the Welka Docks for collection and distribution by the Putnam County Sheriff Department.

From there, the fleet heads to Renegades On The River restaurant for lunch, which will be followed by a raft-up at Silver Glen Springs.

Celebrations are set for both Friday and Saturday night, of course, and Louis Matos, the son of the event’s founder, will be the DJ both evenings. But a new wrinkle is set for the Sunday lunch run.

“I got Dirt Legal to sponsor the Sunday fun run, so we’re gonna run up to the Crab Shack that just reopened,” explained Scott McCormick the owner of Velocity Powerboats in Sanford, Fla., who is once again spearheading the Toys Tour again. “It was been closed for about five years because it got crushed by a hurricane.

“It’s going to be a good year,” he added.