ROCANVILLE — It’s the best part of continuing a long-running tradition, giving a financial boost to local recreation projects in Rocanville. After the dust settled in the 2023 edition of the Rocanville Parks & Recreation Lucky Lottery, a total of $35,500 was split with groups throughout the community.
“We reached out to all the rec groups in town and asked them for a proposal of what they would spend money on and how much they would like,” explained Kirby Fowler, Chair of the Lucky Lottery board. “We’re a little down this year from where we were last year on our payback, which is sad, but it’s still very good what we got there.”
Fowler noted the funds were distributed as follows: The Aquatic Centre was given $17,800, the Rocanville Skating Rink received $10,000, the Tiger Sharks Swim Team swam away with $2,500, the Golf Course was given $2,000, the Rocanville Youth Group gained $1,200, and the Rocanville Dance Club and the Pickleball Club each received $1,000. Members of each recipient group helped with the fundraiser, putting in some good old-fashioned sweat equity to ensure the lottery became a success.
“At the rink, there is a roofing project that they were on the fence if it would go or not, or if they could afford it,” said Fowler, adding that the town promised to provide the rest of the funds to move the project ahead.
The lottery and the rink have a long history with the fundraiser, which was initiated originally almost 30 years ago to build a new arena.
“They did the lottery originally for the rink when they wanted the new rink,” Fowler explained. “We looked at it, we needed the pool was the initial thought—the pool’s a longer project—and there’s a pile of stuff in town that if it doesn’t get looked after, we’re going to be in the same boat as a pool where we need to maintain it or we’re going to start really getting into trouble. So there’s a group of us that got together, kick-started the lottery off again. And we’re going into our third year, and it’s been good.”
Resurrecting the Lucky Lottery has certainly gained Rocanville some attention across Saskatchewan. The $100,000 grand prize winner was Leonard Kasahoff from Langham and the 50/50 draw winner of $39,330 was Corrine Denis of Corman Park. The Early Bird Draw for $10,000 stayed local as Rocanville’s Candy Becker was the lucky recipient.
“It just shows the support that you get from all over the province, too,” said Fowler. “We couldn’t do it without the support of everybody in the province.”
For those with some extra cash burning a hole in their pocket while looking for a way to use that money to help better the community, the next edition of the lottery is coming soon.
“We’re hoping to get our license in place and start selling in early May,” Fowler said, adding that there will be some changes to how the prize packages roll out this time around.
