Fundraising here at the park

There is a big volunteer contingent here at the park, and some of the biggest are the people who sit on the board of directors. Many of them make a two or three (or more) year commitment to sit in on meetings, come up with ideas, voice their opinion, and have a turn at running the park along with six or eight other people.

As park managers, we are in the special position of being able to see most of what goes on behind the scenes, and these people who sit on the board don't get enough recognition for the hard work they do in benefit of the park.

They've organized two fundraisers for the park this year, and one of them promises to be a lot of fun.

Every Friday and Saturday throughout July and August they're doing a "Chase the Ace" lottery. It's similar to a 50/50 draw, in that some of the money goes back to a ticket buyer immediately that night. You buy tickets for $2.00 a piece. It's only open for one hour, between 8-9pm, and immediately following there is a draw where the winner receives 20% of the pot. He then gets to cut a deck of cards, and if the ace of spades comes up he gets the other 30%. And of course 50% goes back to the park. And whatever card is drawn gets removed from the pack, so every draw afterwards gets better and better odds of winning the jackpot.

But if nobody draws an ace of spades throughout the summer, the jackpot continues to grow...up to a maximum $50 grand! So there could be a huge win for someone

So last night was the very first  one, and it was very sucessful and everybody had a good time. The 20% winner got $85, which he promptly donated back to the park! We're doing another one this evening, and again every weekend throughout the summer.

And the other one is a raffle with an almost $10,000 ride on mower as the grand prize. Second prize is a seasonal campsite here at the park for next year.

So, great work, board of directors! Looks like this is going to be a very sucessful fundraising year for the park!

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