FERGUS – Rosemary Skulling has it made in spades.
The Fergus woman’s ticket number was called, she pulled the ace of spades, and walked away the winner of Catch the Ace – a joint project of the Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora and the Fergus branch of the Royal Canadian Legion to benefit the Foundation of Groves Memorial Community Hospital.
Proceeds from Catch the Ace – the third such game organized by the two organizations – fulfills the Rotary Club’s commitment to raise $500,000 for the new hospital.
But Skulling didn’t make out too badly either, walking away with $107,545.
Skulling said she wasn’t sure what she’s going to do with the money. Her daughter lobbied for her to take a trip.
“Right now, I will invest it,” Skulling said at a photo-op event at the Legion on Aug. 25. “Then we’ll see how to spend it.”
The service clubs have run two other Catch the Ace games and started this one in September 2019.
It was put on hold as the pandemic unfolded and relaunched last November with about $30,000 in the kitty.
That grew over the past year as sales were brisk.
But it was a labour-intensive fundraiser and Rotary president Leanne Iravani said members will reassess the possibility of another Catch the Ace in the coming weeks.
“It very labour-intensive for us, but that’s the hard work Rotarians are willing to do,” she said.
Their popular cheese fundraiser is a definite go though, beginning in November.
“This completes our half a million-dollar contribution to the hospital,” she said. “We also made a contribution of $65,000 for a special machine in the surgical suite.”
Iravani thanked the community for its support including all the retail stores that sold tickets, all the members who sold tickets, and the community at large for supporting Rotary projects, that in turn support local initiatives.
“We couldn’t do it without our partnerships,” she added. “We are very grateful.”
