The Rides Of Their Lives On The St. Lawrence River

Since introducing the M5200 center console during the 2022 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Central Missouri, Mystic Powerboats owner John Cosker has taken scores of people for rides in hull No. 1. But his single-day record for hauling passengers in the 52-footer powered by quad 600-hp Mercury Marine outboards fell yesterday.

By noon, Cosker and his wife, Robin, had treated 60-plus people to rides on his latest creation on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, N.Y.

Mystic’s John Cosker had a boatload of Make-A-Wish children and their families yesterday aboard his M5200 center console. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.

But yesterday’s passengers were a distinct departure from the usual groups of prospective buyers—with their families and friends in tow—he hosts on the luxurious center console. That’s because all of them were from the Make-A-Wish of Central New York program, which is the primary beneficiary of this weekend’s 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run.

“I love doing this,” said Ryan Zivitski of Mystic, who along with his wife, Amber, are in town to represent the DeLand, Fla., company. “It’s the best part of the whole weekend, especially when you see the smiles.”

For Upstate New York’s Kelly O’Hara, giving rides to Make-A-Wish kids and their families is more important than the poker run itself.

Of course, Mystic was just one of several brands including DCB Performance Marine and MTI in the ride-giving mix. And that was a good thing for the organizers, as they had 24 Make-A-Wish families signed up in advance to get out on the water.

“We had a lot of generous boat owners who gave them memories for their whole lives, so it was really a nice time for everybody involved,” said Courtney Rutherford, who is a member of the 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run organizing committee. “Every single person who was on those boats enjoyed themselves so much that they stayed around for an hour or two after their boat rides.”

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“It’s the best part of the whole weekend, especially when you see the smiles.”—Ryan Zivitski, Mystic Powerboats

Fellow event-organizing committee member Jeff Morgan was equally delighted with yesterday’s turnout on both the boat-owner and Make-A-Wish family sides of the equation.

“The generosity of all these participants this year is over the top,” he said. “Like every year, we’ve had such great success with the boaters, but the boaters this year are even more gracious. It’s amazing.”