CENTRAL MANITOULIN—The only thing more positive than the response the Central Manitoulin Lions Club received from sales of tickets for the draw for an $8,500 Lions Barbecue ultimate dream package sponsored by Jake’s Home Centre in Mindemoya was the reaction of the winner of the draw.
“I still can’t believe it,” stated Annie Juurlink, of Spring Bay. “When (Lion) Marcus Mohr called to tell me I had won, my heart was pounding. My heart was even beating hard the next day when my husband Patrick and I went to the Mindemoya ballfield to pick up the barbecue package.” The couple has four adult children.
“I still can’t believe it,” said Ms. Juurlink. “We just moved up to the Island (from Kitchener). We have had a place for three years here, a cottage that we are turning into a permanent home on Perivale Road East, just down the road from the Perivale Gallery. We are going to be building a deck where we are going to be putting the barbecue.”
“We bought a washer and dryer from Jake’s a couple of years ago,” said Ms. Juurlink. “They are a fantastic business to deal with, and their service is great. The Island is a magical place. I feel really, really lucky.”
“A total of 907 tickets were sold of the 1,000 we had printed for the barbecue package,” said Mr. Mohr. “One-hundred and forty-three tickets being purchased off our Lions website helped out a lot. And now that we have that in place on our website, we can sell tickets on there in the future as well.”
Mr. Mohr noted that the Friday, June 27 the Lions Manitoulin Ribfest 50/50 winner of $105 was Joanne Pheasant, with Saturday’s winner of $644.50 being Wendy Niven, $643.50 was won in the draw on June 29 by Carolyn McCourt and the Monday, June 30 draw ticket for $35 was Beverley MacDonald.
Mr. Mohr said that an estimated 5,500 wristbands were given out (to attendees) at the Lions Homecoming Weekend and Ribfest.
Mr. Mohr said “We have lots of projects that the Lions Club donates towards each year. Last year we had multiple requests from families for travel/medical donations, and we also donate to the Mindemoya Hospital Auxiliary, Manitoulin Family Resources (MFR), the Historical Society and upkeep of the Lions Pavilion and ballfield canteen. We also annually donate a lot to youth programs, schools, sports like Central Manitoulin Public School (CMPS) hockey, MSS athletics and robotics, the Youth Softball tournament (held in Mindemoya), and the Manitoulin Secondary School student bursary awards.”
