Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The Kindersley Community Service Group’s inaugural Chase the Ace draw will continue until the licence expires even though the largest pot has already been won.
A spokesperson for the draw says the final draw will still be made on Sept. 27 and it means there are still four draws in total for people to win money, and for money to be raised for the Kindersley Aquatic Centre. The final draws will be on Aug. 16 and 30, and Sept. 13 and 27.
Denise Sarada of Kindersley holds up the Ace of Spades and a cheque for $9,626 for David Mushanski of Regina. Sarada agreed to pick a card if Mushanski’s ticket was pulled, and Sarada turned out to be good luck for the Regina man, who also earned $254 from the draw.
The main Chase the Ace pot of $9,626 has been won by David Mushanski of Regina and his ticket was drawn on Aug. 2 at the Elks Hall. The big winner also won $254 for his share of sales from the two-week period leading up to the draw.
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Each person whose ticket gets drawn gets 20 per cent of the total sales from the two-week period, so people still have a chance to win money from each of the four remaining draws. The tickets are available from Gary Hamilton, David Burke, Darlene May and members of the Big Dippers pool fundraising committee.
Tickets were also available at the town’s administration office and businesses including Castle Home Building Centre, Sharper Image, Lela’s Music Centre, Hangers Dry Cleaners, Synergy Credit Union, Royal Bank of Canada, Integra Tire, Hill Acme, Humpty’s Restaurant, Kindersley Insurance and at ISH Energy Ltd.
Mushanski said his cousins are Kindersley residents Marlon Hearn and Roxanne Atkinson. Hearn’s wife Tara and Atkinson are members of the Big Dippers. He said he has been buying tickets every two weeks during the draws.
He noted that Marlon originally told him about the draw and he agreed to purchase tickets. His family members would put their name and number on the tickets because they agreed to pick the card if his ticket is drawn. The goal is to pick the Ace of Spades.
Mushanski said he was told no one would be around on the night of the draw, so he was asked if a friend’s name and number could be put on his tickets just in case. The friend is Denise Sarada and she ended up getting a call to attend the Elks Hall to pick a card. Sarada picked the Ace of Spades.
He joked that Tara told him putting another person’s name on the tickets might bring him better luck. Little did he know it would bring him the best luck. He found out he had won while he was enjoying the concert with Atkinson.
The winner said he was sitting a couple of rows up from his cousin. He went to the concession to get beverages when he received a text message from Atkinson asking him how much fun he was going to have that night. It was at that moment she informed him he had won the draw.
“It was pretty shocking,” Mushanski said, recognizing that his initial thought was his cousin had to be joking because he never wins anything and he was not expecting to win Chase the Ace in Kindersley. “I was in shock.”
He noted that he has only ever one the odd free play or $50 on a scratch ticket at the most, so it was the biggest prize of his life to win nearly $10,000 from the draw. Mushanski has plans to save a portion of the winnings and use some money to help with expenses for trips he already has planned with his wife.
The winner said he would also like to get something nice for his nieces and nephews. Mushanski said the draw supports a good cause and whether he won or not, it is always nice to help support a cause in a community. He also has plans to thank Sarada for picking the card, he added.
Hamilton, the spokesperson, said he laid the cards out on the table after Sarada showed up at the hall. He said she had a nonchalant approach to picking a card, but then she got excited for Mushanski after she realized what had happened.
He encouraged people to keep getting tickets because the draw could still earn another $1,000 or more for the pool, and somebody will get to win a nice chunk of money on Sept. 27 based on previous draws. Hamilton said he decided to keep going with the current draw, and the group will decide whether or not to start a new draw.
“It’s a pretty good win,” he said of Muchanski’s big win, adding that the current draw will continue to raise money for the aquatic centre project and the service group will pick a new cause or continue to support the pool.
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