THUNDER BAY -- A pair of Shuniah, Ont. women are the big winners of this year's Fort William Rotary House Lottery draw.
A ticket bearing the names of Jill and Julie Colquhoun was drawn on Friday evening on the main stage at Marina Park, as Canada Day festivities continued along the city's waterfront.
It's a win-win situation, said Fort William Rotary past president Stephen Margarit.
"It's a great day for our club and our members. It's been a while since we've been here at Marina Park on Canada Day doing the official draw. So we're happy to be back and it's great to see the crowd and all the different people that are here," Margarit said.
"A lot of work goes into this every year, procuring the house, making sure it gets built, selling the tickets and it's just so exciting to award a winner a house today."
The grand prize, four-bedroom home, located on Dogwood Crescent, is worth about $749,000, with more than $50,000 in early bird prizes also given out. As a result of selling more than 15,600 of the 20,000 tickets up for grabs, more than $400,000 will be turned over to local charities, including Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, Wilderness Discovery Centre and the George Jeffrey Children's Foundation.
"We came up a little bit short, compared to what we did last year, but it's still an amazing amount. We're going to be able to donate more than $400,000 to local and district charities, so we're pretty proud of what we're able to accomplish," Margarit said. "As Rotarians, the reason we do this every year, we can't participate in the house lottery, so it's all about giving back to the charity.
"Throughout the year we see where the funds go and the impact they have on the community and people in our community, so that's what keeps us coming back year after year."
Margarit said the Fort William Rotary Club is already working on next year's draw. Tickets are expected to go on sale in late winter or early spring.
