San Tan Valley Chamber of Commerce

San Tan Leads, the San Tan Valley-based professional leads group, will host “Family Fun Poker Night” on September 9th, 2011 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Mallorca Ballroom at Encanterra Country Club to benefit Dustin Cote, the San Tan Valley teen who severed several fingers in a lawnmower accident on August 11th. The evening will include a poker tournament, but also family-oriented attractions including a DJ, dance floor, Wii game consoles, and lawn activities. The entry fee is $25 per adult and $10 per child (17 and under). The cost to buy into the poker tournament is $20. Participants in the event will be able to purchase food and drinks separately through Encanterra. All funds raised through entry fees and the poker tournament will directly benefit the Cote family to help them with medical expenses. Jerome Daniels, former Arizona Cardinals football player and current owner of A-Z Sports Camps, is scheduled to attend Family Fun Poker Night. Daniels is currently working closely with the San Tan Valley Chamber of Commerce of which San Tan Leads is a member to help make this October’s San Tan Valley Fall Festival successful. When he heard the story of the Cote family, he wanted to help and donated Cardinals tickets to the family in addition to committing to making a guest appearance at the event.

Fourteen-year-old Dustin Cote was mowing his family’s lawn in San Tan Valley on August 11th, 2011 when he accidentally sliced off several of his fingers on his left hand. Contrary to previous reports of the incident, Dustin Cote was not trying to adjust the blade of a running mower, rather, his hand slipped while working with wet grass near the mower, forcing it to slide under the blade. “One split second can change your life forever,” said Dustin after the incident from his hospital bed. Ironically, Dustin’s father, Bruce Cote, suffered a similar injury almost twenty-six years to the day previous to his son’s and lost all the fingers on his left hand. Bruce Cote is now the successful owner of A-1 Hand Handyman, a handyman service business that caters to the San Tan Valley and East Valley areas.

San Tan Leads is a business leads group that meets weekly with chapters in San Tan Valley and Gilbert.  It serves as a resource for business owners who want to learn more about making their businesses successful as well as “building business one lead at a time.” San Tan Leads was founded in 2008 by Dewayne Castillo. Bruce Cote, father of the injured boy, is an original member of the San Tan Valley chapter of San Tan Leads. The group as a whole decided they wanted to do their part to help ease the suffering of the Cote family. “Bruce is like one of our family members,” says Dewayne Castillo. “We are proud to call A-1 Hand Handyman one of our best San Tan Valley businesses, and we’ll do whatever it takes to help Bruce, Dustin, and their family in this unfortunate situation.”

Tickets for Family Fun Poker Night at Encanterra can be purchased by calling San Tan Leads directly at (602) 443-0073 or at the door the night of the event. They are currently seeking prize donations from local  businesses for both the poker tournament and the raffle event. Additional information will be available in the weeks to follow at http://www.SanTanValley.com.  Current sponsors of the event include San Tan Leads, Encanterra, Pinal County Federal Credit Union, MyBizNow.com, A-Z Sports Camps, Arizona Nightlife DJ Entertainment, Palma’s Cakes & Cookies, BestofSanTanValley.com, Queen Creek/San Tan Valley Independent, and SanTanValley.com.

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