FOREST CITY -- Plenty of snowmobilers are still reveling after Thursday's snowfall. As many continue to hit the trails today and this weekend, one man who was killed in a snowmobile crash two years ago is being honored.
"Somebody upstairs is looking at us," said Sean Sheare, who credits his late brother with the ideal snowmobiling weather. Fitting, since this weekend, Sean and his family are honoring Brian Sheare, who was killed after his snow mobile went off the trail and crashed into a tree back in February of 2015.
"We wanted to have a way to remember my brother but also remember the times we had good together with snowmobiles," said Sheare.
The family organized the second annual Brian Sheare Memorial Poker Run, which takes place on February 11. Registration is open from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Forest City trailhead and at the Gravity Inn in Waymart on Saturday, with the run starting at noon. There will also be a benefit starting at 5 p.m. at Arlo's Tavern in Union Dale.
"This would've been something he would've absolutely loved to be involved in," said Kristen Sheare, Brian's sister.
The money raised from the poker run will go toward helping purchase rescue sleds for local fire departments. The $8,000 raised during last year's run went toward a sled for the Union Dale Volunteer Fire Company.
"This trail system is 210 miles long," Sean Sheare added. "A lot of it is inaccessible by car and ambulance, so the snowmobile helps out with getting to those locations."
"The ambulance can get to the road but they can't get into whoever is hurt," said Brian's mother, Jaki Sheare.
"Having a snowmobile rescue set up could be the difference between life or death for someone," said John Williams, Brian Sheare's longtime best friend.
"Having that on the trail when it wasn't previously available means a lot."
"If we could just help one person or save one life, that is all we could ever ask for," Kristen Sheare added.