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Scott Paradis, tbnewswatch
Rotary member and chairman of this year’s Annual Rotary House Lottery, Bob Hookham, speaks to media Wednesday morning during the launch of ticket sales for the house lottery draw.
The Thunder Bay Rotary Club will have a tough time meeting its ticket-sale target for its annual Rotary House lottery, and organizers are aware of that fact.
Rotary member and chairman of this year’s Annual Rotary House Lottery, Bob Hookham, said the group understands that it will have a difficult time selling tickets for the house draw this year. He told media this during the official launch of this year’s lottery Wednesday morning.
"This is going to be a tight year," Hookham said at the news conference held in the three-bedroom house on Loxley Bay being offered as the draw’s grand prize. "We thought last year was going to be a tight year – we fell short of our goal of selling 7,000 tickets."
This year, which marks the 23rd Annual House Lottery, will again strive to sell 7,000 tickets, which amounts to $700,000 if that target is met. The aggressive target does have the Rotary Club a bit concerned, Hookham said.
In February, the Kinsmen announced that its Dream Home Lottery draw would come to an indefinite end. That draw made a profit, but did not record numbers as strong as it did in 2006 and 2007.
The Rotary Club isn’t letting the challenges it faces act as a deterrent. The troubled economic fortunes of the region may even be a motivating factor.
"With today’s economy, this lottery is probably more important than any other we’ve ever had," Hookham said. "It’s a situation now where we are doing this because of the need in the community … we’re facing double-digit unemployment in the city and the need is probably greater than ever before."
Hookham said the Rotary Club is already looking ahead, and said there will be a house lottery next year.
Tickets for this year’s house lottery are $100 each. There is $390,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs.
Tickets can be purchased from the following locations:
- Atkinson’s Jewellers
- Balmoral Park Acura
- Fort William Rotarians
- Halfway Motors
- Hallmark Card (all locations)
- JB Evans
- Marlin Travel (Victoriaville)
- Performance Kia
- St. Joseph’s Heritage
- Smith and Associates Insurance
- Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation
- Travelodge Hotel Airlane
- Wanson Lumber
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