The regular meeting of the RRBB Lions Club was a busy one as members finalized plans and scrambled to gather any unsold tickets for the RRWT Pontoon Boat Draw set for September 19. Demand for the $20 tickets has been very brisk the last month with over 75 percent of the 4000 tickets sold by early August.
“Running a big raffle is always a chore. Distributing and marketing the tickets come with some sleepless nights wondering if you will cover your costs. And this year with the Covid-19 pandemic even more so,” said Lions secretary Jack Elliott.
“We had already committed ourselves to the raffle early in the year, then things started being cancelled and we really had to scramble to figure out how we were going to sell all these tickets, especially after the Rainy River Walleye Tournament was forced to cancel,” he explained.
President of the Lions, Richard Trenchard set up a system where people could simply and securely, order and pay for their tickets online with an E-transfer. It quickly became very popular and accounted for the bulk of our early sales, says Trenchard.
The standard practice of in person sales by club members and area businesses was used as well and really kicked in when we took delivery of the Princecraft Vectra 21 Pontoon Boat from Nestor Falls Marine in June. Since then the Boat has been on display at several locations across the District including Busy Beaver Fuels and Beaver Mills Market in Rainy River, Norlund Oil, Emo, Devlin’s, Devlin, and Westside Bait, Fort Frances. “Canadian Tire and Walmart in Fort Frances graciously offered us use of their respective lots for a couple of weekend as well”, added Elliott.
The extra effort and support of District businesses and citizens as well as neighbouring Lions Clubs and friends across Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba has made this a banner year for the RRWT Pontoon Boat Raffle.
“In the end, it’s about investing in our communities. Every dime we make on Lions raffles is plowed back into charitable projects in our communities. Things like playground equipment, seniors support and recreation opportunities, youth activities, disaster assistance, and vision health, are just some of the things your investment in a $20 ticket pays for,” explained Club Vice President, Brent Helgeson.
“If we all have a little fun and excitement along the way, so much the better,” he added.
There are still a few tickets left and we are scurrying around to make sure our distributors are supplied. The pace of sales since early August says we will probably be sold out by or before September 1. Your best bet for scoring one outside Rainy River is at Ski’s variety, or Westside Baits in Fort Frances, NorLunds, Emo, Devlin’s, Devlin, Stratton Service, or J&Js, Morson.
The draw will be held September 19, 2020, 6:30 pm at the Royal Canadian legion, Br. 54, Rainy River, On. If there are any tickets still available by then, they will be available at the Legion that day.
