GORE BAY—Due to demand from customers in Gore Bay and area, the Little Current Lions Club now has a venue in Gore Bay where people can get their Catch the Ace tickets and participate in the lottery/raffle.
“We’ve had a lot of people from Gore Bay and area asking where we are selling tickets,” stated Lion President Bruce Burnett. “And then they tell us they have to drive quite a distance to buy the tickets here in Little Current.”
“This has proven to be a really good money maker for the Lions Club so far,” said Mr. Burnett. “We are slowly getting across the Island. We’ve been looking at how to get tickets around the Island and were able to get places to sell them in Manitowaning about a month ago, and Mindemoya has been part of the lottery since the start. But we were looking for a place in Gore Bay to sell tickets and it was suggested that maybe the (Manitoulin West Recorder) would be willing to sell tickets for us (which we happily agreed to do).”
Mr. Burnett provided a recap on the rules. At the beginning of the lottery/raffle, a fresh deck of cards is shuffled and placed in individual, unmarked envelopes. Those envelopes are then shuffled again and marked with numbers from one to 52. Each week, 1,000 tickets are printed to be sold.
Players who buy a $5 ticket write their contact information on the stub and then guess as to which envelope harbours the ace which they write at the bottom of the ticket (a number from one to 52). Each Wednesday, one ticket is drawn at the Little Current Royal Canadian Legion Branch 177 hall and that ticket receives 20 percent of that week’s accumulated ticket money. The envelope number on their ticket is then opened and if it contains the Ace of Spades, the winner takes home the accumulated jackpot. If the draw goes to its full run of 20 weeks and all the tickets are sold that could mean a tidy $30,000 payout.
Once an envelope is opened, it is withdrawn from play, so you can only pick a number from the envelopes remaining in play (one of which still holds the elusive ace).
In order to be in the weekly draw you must purchase a ticket, as each ticket is only eligible for that week’s draw. You do not have to be present at the draw to win.
The draw will conclude at week 20, and if no one has managed to Catch the Ace, a random elimination draw will determine the overall winner of the top prize. Lottery rules say that at the end the prize has to be given away.
There will be no numbers on the tickets in the last draw, said Mr. Burnett. Instead, a ticket will be drawn and that ticket will get the lowest numbered envelope. That ticket will get the 20 percent from that week. If that envelope doesn’t have the ace, the Lions keep drawing tickets until it comes up. If your ticket is pulled and your envelope does not contain the ace, you don’t win anything, but if you do Catch the Ace, you will take home the accumulated pot. He noted as well that should the draw last to 20 weeks, people are only allowed to buy five tickets each.
The last winner of Catch the Ace was Marlene Spry of Rockville who took home a sum of $9,474.50 last week.
“A lot of people are having trouble figuring out all the rules at the start, but it doesn’t take long for them to grasp the process,” said Mr. Burnett.
The Recorder office will have tickets on hand beginning Wednesday, May 17 so local residents can purchase tickets and get in line for their next draw being held on May 24.
Tickets are now available at the Recorder office, through the Little Current Lions Club members, and at the Little Current Legion hall each Wednesday from noon to 7:30 pm. If you would like to purchase tickets at the Gore Bay office, Tom is requesting you phone him first at 705-282-1912 or on his cell phone 705-282-7964 to make sure he is in the office when you are wanting to purchase your tickets.
