Rocanville Lucky Lottery sales going well
Organizers expecting to sell-out on tickets this year
September 5, 2023, 4:34 pm
Sierra D'Souza Butts, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Tickets for Rocanville’s Lucky Lottery are selling quickly. There is an early bird draw of $10,000, a grand prize of $100,000, as well as a 50/50 draw.
The early bird draw will be on Sept. 15, at the Nutrien Rocanville Community Hall, in collaboration with Rocanville Minor Hockey’s Steak Night and NHL Hat Auction fundraiser.
The grand prize of $100,000, and the 50/50 draw will be drawn on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the hall.
Organized by Rocanville Minor Ball, the big event will include a cabaret and live entertainment by Lachlan Neville and Tyler Lewis.
Kirby Fowler, Chair of the Lucky Lottery Board, said lots of people have been buying Lucky Lottery tickets.
“Ticket sales are going very well right now. We’re ahead of where we were at this point last year,” said Fowler. “We’re going to be getting close to that 20 per cent mark.
“This past week the Lucky Lottery Board all got together at Nutrien Hall in Rocanville and we did a call out to all the purchasers from last year, just to remind them. We generated a whole pile of sales that way, for repeat sales.
“As well as our community groups, like minor hockey, minor ball, dance, swimming—all of the groups in the long term who benefit from the lottery—were out canvassing the town. We’ve seen a great amount of support that way as well.”
All proceeds from the Lucky Lottery fundraiser will go towards supporting recreation groups and activities in town, including upgrades of Rocanville Aquatic Centre.
Early bird draw on Sept. 15
Rocanville Minor Hockey will be hosting a steak night fundraiser and NHL hat auction on Sept. 15., in support of raising money for their local group.
At the night of the event, the early bird winner of the Lucky Lottery will be announced.
The event will consist of auctioning off 32 NHL hats, with 40 per cent of the funds going towards Rocanville Minor Hockey.
Tickets to attend the event cost $25, and can be purchased from parents of Rocanville minor hockey players, or from a Minor Hockey Board member.
Cabaret and live music event on Oct. 14
The grand prize winner of $100,000 from Rocanville’s Lucky Lottery will be announced at the big cabaret event in town.
Rocanville Minor Ball will be organizing the event, with live entertainment from Lachlan Neville and Tyler Lewis, on Oct. 14 at the Nutrien Rocanville Community Hall.
“Traditionally, years before when they originally did the Lucky Lottery the draw was always done at a cabaret,” said Fowler.
“We thought it would be a great opportunity for some of the community groups to organize it.
“We’re not taking any of the profits from the cabaret or the other events, the community groups are doing that, but they’re allowing us to draw at it. It works out for everyone.”
Advance tickets for the event are $25 each, and can be purchased by contacting Jess Cuthill at (306) 745-0169, Martin Bell at (306) 434-7616, or any Minor Ball Board member.
Lucky Lottery radio blitz
To encourage selling all available tickets, the Lucky Lottery Board plans on doing a radio blitz a few days before Sept. 15.
“We are having a radio blitz on Sept. 13, 14, 15 to take us right up to the drawing of the early bird prize,” Fowler said.
“If we do not sell out by the 15th, with the sales the way they are right now we’re really thinking we might sell out by the early bird draw, but if we don’t, we might have another radio blitz a couple days in October before the grand prize draw.”
People can listen to the group’s promotion on stations: GX94 and CJWW 600.
With last year being the board’s first time organizing Lucky Lottery, Fowler said they expect to sell out on tickets this year, based on how well sales have been going.
“For the early bird draw, it’s coming along pretty good. If you broke it down we’re probably about 20 per cent on the lottery tickets,” he said.
“We’re probably closer to the 10 to 15 per cent on the 50/50 draw. We’re doing pretty good on the 50/50 as well.
“If we sell out on the 50/50, I believe it’s a $48,500 payout. Last year, we were at $44,600 payout. We were very close last year to selling out. For the grand prize, I think we were 241 tickets shy from selling out.”
Fowler said the fundraiser is very important to the community, and helps support many different groups in Rocanville.
“I know the skating rink needs some work done to its roof, the pool would still be supported, and minor ball is looking to do a bit of work to their ball diamonds,” he said.
“Because this isn’t for a single thing and it is helping out the community in general, I think the fundraiser is very important.
“With the support we’re seeing from the community groups, minor ball, minor hockey, pool board, everyone, it’s not a hard decision when it comes to how we have to split this money up.
“We’re getting great support, people are volunteering, they’re giving up their time, they’re bringing in a lot of money for us, it allows us to pay them back.”
