Many Strike Gold At Rotary Raffle

By Melissa Grossman

About 70 people attended the annual Rotary Gold Dinner Raffle Saturday night at Newtown’s Fireside Inn, and 26 people ended the evening as winners.

Helen Smith of Elm Drive won the jackpot, which was 12 Troy ounces of gold. Her ticket was the last number called. “My life has been one of good fortune with great health and a wonderful family; and now a bit of icing on the top with these gold coins. Lucky Me!” said Mrs Smith. She said that she and her husband, Scudder, had been buying tickets for 25 years and had never won before.

Two hundred and fifty tickets were sold to help benefit local, national and international programs.

Raffle tickets cost $100 and only those who purchased these tickets were eligible to win one of the 26 prizes.

Dr Robert S. Grossman was the emcee for the evening. He directed the raffle in a reverse order drawing, announcing winners with the first and every tenth ticket drawn after that. The winners were awarded 2/10ths of an ounce of gold, except the grand prize winner.

All prizes were awarded in the form of American Eagle gold coins. The second prize winner was Earl Smith; third prize went to Allison Titgemeier; fourth prize to Bob Llodra; and fifth prize to Carl Titgemeier. Other winners included Margot Hall, George Mattegat, Florence Coleman, Craig Foster, Scudder Smith, and Marge Peragine.

The proceeds from this event will be used for programs such as Student of the Month, at both Newtown High School and Newtown Middle School. Rotary also supports Newtown Family Counseling Center, the Dorothy Day House in Danbury, the Shelter of the Cross in Danbury and Polio Plus, a program to wipe out polio worldwide.