CAMBRIDGE – Meryl Penman of Brantford and Judith Tiivel of North York were June and July’s respective winners of Drayton Entertainment’s Ultimate 50/50 draw.
Penman took home $85,790 and Tiivel won a jackpot of $78,540.
“I’m over the moon; you enter these things, but you never think you’ll win,” Penman said back in June.
“I saw the call come in from Cambridge and I knew the time of the draw, so when I answered the phone, I got excited—what a wonderful surprise,” she said.
A theatre fan, Penman has been attending productions at the Hamilton Family Theatre Cambridge and the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse since 2013. Shows like Twelve Angry Men and Man of La Mancha are particular favourites.
Penman isn’t quite sure what she’ll do with her windfall, but she hopes to travel to England and Italy when restrictions allow.
She and her husband have given half the prize to their daughter. The money will also help with costs associated with a basement renovation project that is already underway.
Tiivel was watching the Olympics when her call came in.
“I had not checked my tickets, so I was dumbfounded because I never thought for a moment that I would win. I’ve never won anything in my life. I’m so excited and grateful,” Tiivel said.
Tiivel lives in North York, but many friends in Cambridge have introduced her to the Drayton Entertainment theatres in the area.
She’s attended productions at the Hamilton Family Theatre Cambridge and St. Jacobs Country Playhouse including Sister Act and Ghost. She had hoped to see We’ll Meet Again and The Sound of Music in 2020 before the pandemic cancelled her plans.
“The online 50/50 is a wonderful idea. It’s fun to enter the draw and a great way to stay connected to the theatre while there are no shows running,” Tiivel said.
She intends to donate some of her winnings to important causes in her life.
To start, Tiivel has donated a portion of her prize back to Drayton Entertainment to be pledged toward its youth education and outreach initiatives to advance inclusion for marginalized and underrepresented groups in the community.
Drayton Entertainment artistic director Alex Mustakas said watching prizes grow each month is exciting.
“When people enter the draw, they dream of winning the jackpot, but when it happens for that one lucky person, they are always totally shocked,” he said. “It’s such a fun phone call for me to make.”
Drayton Entertainment’s Ultimate 50/50 raffle launched in March with Diane Halstead of Cambridge taking home a $83,470 prize, followed in April by Shawky Fahel of Waterloo with $139,020 and Marcia Haworth of Rockwood in May with $100,505.
Like Tiivel, both Fahel and Haworth donated part of their prize money back to Drayton Entertainment to be pledged toward youth initiatives; Fahel donated $15,000 and Haworth donated $10,000.
“The raffle is back in August, and we look forward to watching the jackpot grow all month long leading up to the big draw once again,” Mustakas said.
