The Blaine Lake Senior Citizens' Centre held its community cash lotto draw Oct. 15 at the seniors' centre in Blaine Lake. Many community and surrounding area residents attended the hamburger barbecue prior to the draws.
The $100,000 cash prizewinner was Brent Verreau of Meadow Lake and the $10,000 prizewinner was a ticket shared by Les Pollard and Ken Tkachuk of Blaine Lake.
This year organizers were able to improve yet again on the ticket handling and drawing aspect of the draw. Ticket numbers were placed on a round plastic token and then placed into the draw drum. When a token was drawn, the number was verified on a record sheet, then the original ticket was retrieved from the file and verified once again by Pam Lavoie and Karen Fiala. The ticket holder's name was then announced and the token was placed back into the drum for the next draw. Internal auditor Terry Rapsey was present for the entire pre-draw verification process.
Once again it was noted the cash lotto committee went above and beyond with their record keeping, database reference and verification of all tickets sold. Sgt. Redlich of the Blaine Lake RCMP detachment was the official token drawer.
Sheila Righi, first vice-chair of the Saskatchewan Seniors Association Inc. (SSAI), who also holds the title of director of region B which includes Blaine Lake, was in attendance. She indicated that the Blaine Lake seniors is still the only seniors' organization that has conducted a cash lotto.
Volunteers from Blaine Lake Senior Citizens' club organized, prepared and sold tickets prior to the radiothon with CJWW broadcasting live on location from Oct. 9 to 12. Radio personalities Rod Kitter and Dave Thomas worked diligently promoting the lotto and assisting with ticket sales. The live on-location broadcast contributed to selling a total of 2,246 tickets. As of midnight Oct. 12, 254 eligible tickets were recorded as unsold.
A long period of time and a large volunteer base was required to ensure the success of the event. The purpose of the lottery was to raise funds to assist with the completion of the seniors' centre's building expansion project.
There were many 'behind the scenes' people who contributed to the project's success. Many duties like answering telephones, issuing tickets, stuffing envelopes, inputting data into the computer, labelling, making bank deposits, picking up supplies plus so much more. There were also the generous volunteer efforts of locals who provided food items for lunches and supper, baked goods for coffee breaks and lots and lots of moral support.
The community of Blaine Lake thanks everyone for their support. Other cash prize winners included $1,000 winners: Wilfred Krelow, Rabbit Lake; Alan McCallum, Carmel; Marty Curtis, Waldheim; Murray R Brown, Edmonton; Ron Timmins, Blaine Lake; Lawrence Debray, Saskatoon; Marlene Reid, Birch Hills; Carol and Bev Lafond, Marcelin; Cecil Riegert, Laird and Ron Gerlinski, Spiritwood. The $500 winners were Ron Schmaltz, Prelate; WS Bradley and Beverly Myers of Saskatoon; Gilbert Jovan of Shellbrook; Lloyd Banda of Leask; Bernard Wiegers of Prince Albert; Bill and Carla Dishko, Hafford; Walt Pawlovich, Saskatoon; Bob Boire, Blaine Lake; Byron Reban, Bentley; Sylvia and Faye Coleman, Leask. The 50/50 draw for $28,057.50 went to Dan Kane of Yellowknife.
