Another Successful "10 K Rotary Raffle"

Ron Crawford made a special report on our 10 Grand Raffle fund raiser. Qué un partido agradable y exitoso. ¡Felicitaciones! Even in these difficult times, our Rotary fundraiser didn’t “head south”! Instead, thanks to club members, their contributors and friends, and especially to the team who put on our “Cinco de Mayo” event, we netted $22,700 for charity.

President Ron reported the 50/50 Raffle raised $700 for the winner and $700 toward another “Shelter Box.” Our newest venture, Mark Tauber’s Bingo, raised $550 for our Polio Plus commitment. The Raffle’s gross was $41,150, with $15,000 in prizes paid out, 377 tickets sold, and 145 folks in attendance. Along with great prize contributions, a lower cost with the Wellington helped as well (and their food was Muy Bueno).

Others thought so, too. Bill Kmiecik’s Betsy said, “The south of the border theme was great.” (We thought we heard her add something like “fun seeing some costumes other than red Santa Run suits!”). Bob Morman gets acknowledge as having the best hat (perhaps he won a few “phone numbers” tucked inside by it’s previous owner, our exchange student Ivan. Bill Hoff’s serape helped set the stage as well.

Our special thanks go to Kris Stabler and Jim Bertucci for their efforts, and to the team who did the many jobs which made this year’s event a success.. There’s a saying, “Behind a successful Rotarian is a great partner.” On Thursday there was one “next to” the Rotarian…in this case, Diane Crawford greeted and tallied attendees so we could keep good track of our attendance and resulting restaurant charges.

Kris said teamwork was key, making the event one of the “best ever.” Who could resist “Margarita Wench” Wendy? Her efforts garnered an additional $185, plus lots of good spirits. We have “bills” to thank, not to pay: Bill Billimoria again sold the most tickets this year. Bill Hoff sold the winning ticket. Thank you, Bills, for your support of the club. Jon Ridler was a great MC for this event. Mike Silverman was the Honored Number Caller for the last ten winning tickets. It was great to have you be a part of the event, Mike.

We had an abundance of winners, thanks to the donations of prizes. Those attending of course had a good time, and those winning prizes had an even better one. Curly Nebel’s June, was one saying they had three prizes this year, including some golf Curly may give a try! “We enjoyed the Bingo: playing added excitement as we waited for the final ticket to be drawn.”

Rotary is service through fellowship. Ace reporter, Bob Paddock, Jr., had some words for the wise – “stay ‘til the end!” He had to attend a second commitment Thursday night, but one of his tickets was nearly the last drawn. He lost out on $200. because he had to be there to win. He vows to schedule better next year. Nonetheless, what an enjoyable and successful party; Congratulations! Hasta Luego.