By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
Generous folks are alive and well in the Caledonia area, if the Lions Club Mother’s Day Raffle is any indication. In its maiden run last year, the Caledonia Lions Club sold about 500 raffle tickets and donated $2,625 to the Houston County Food Shelf. The grand prize was a 98.3 second shopping spree put on by Quillin’s of Caledonia and KQ 98 Hot Country.
The 2008 event was so successful, the Brownsville and Eitzen Lions clubs decided to join forces with the Caledonia Lions in soliciting prizes and selling raffle tickets. The result, according to Terry Nelson of the Caledonia Lions was overwhelming.
“We sold over 1,500 tickets this year, had many more businesses providing prizes and should be able to donate somewhere between $6,000 and $7,000 to the food shelf,” Nelson said.
But this story even gets better. The grand prize winner of the 98.3 second shopping spree, Amanda Newgaard of Mabel, decided to donate all of the groceries gathered up during the shopping spree to the food shelf.
“Amanda was very pleased to have her name drawn, but said she wanted to donate it back to the food shelf,” Nelson explained. Newgaard really didn’t want to get involved in the shopping spree, so the Lions Club enlisted the services of Houston County Sheriff Doug Ely and Caledonia Police Chief Randy Shefelbine to load up the carts.
The two lawmen were on hand last year to make sure there were no improprieties during the shopping spree. The both got caught up in the moment and helped last year’s shopping spree winner Imy Dorival load up her grocery carts.
Ely and Shefelbine will be in action this Wednesday at 10 a.m. when they will see how many shopping carts they can fill with items to be donated to the food shelf.
“We are so pleased with the tremendous support from area residents and also all the businesses that have donated prizes for our fundraiser,” Nelson noted. “And it appears as if this program will continue to grow. Several other Lions Clubs in the county have expressed interest in getting involved in this next year. This could easily turn into a county-wide event.”
Besides the 98.3 second shopping spree grand prize, there were 99 names drawn for gift certificates at 17 area businesses. The names of the businesses and the winners include:
The Farm House- John Guillaume, Smiley Bauer, Margaret Meiners, Mary Stemper, Mary Lou Sailer, Bob Meisch, Shelly Cavanaugh, Ann Ferkingstad, Jeff Husmann and Dave Meyer.
Elsie’s Bar and Grill- Darryl Meyer, Ann Fitzpatrick, Neil Morey, Wanda Bauer, Bob Walters, Jenn Burrichter, Charles Gavin, Gretchen Buege, Wilma Schoh, and Naomi Myhre.
Little Miami- Burnell Roble, Dave Shaw, Duane Peterson, Julia Thompson, Myron Burmaster, Shari Weigrefe, Duane Schwartzhoff, Larry Salm, Lori Whilhelmson and Helen Zaiger.
The Back Forty- Mac Macomber, Dorothy Schutz, Doug Butter, Lynn Reynolds, Rickie Meiners, Juanita Meyer, Gerald Bakewell, Lee Grippen and Mary Lou Burrichter.
Wings- Barb Schuttemeier, Charles Schroeder, Dorothy Baumgartner, Ellen Murphy, Dara Sass, Sally Eglinton, Chester Fruechte, Mike Tschumper, Brad Harguth and Lois Schmitz.
Bluff Country Meats- Paul Sires, Trina Scanlan, Robert Reinke, Ron Johnson, Mark Schiltz and Mel Brand.
Subway- Norman Oseth, Tom Murphy, Tim Pattrin, Scott Dolle and Aaron Kraus.
Frankies- Laverne Massman, Nancy Welscher, Jeff Lampert, Jerry Kurtz and Audrey McRae.
The Copper Penny- Richard Sather, Jenn Burrichter, Sara Cordes, Nancy Schroeder and Kristen Klug.
The Redwood- Ralph Knox, Betty Schwarzhoff, Henrietta Guillaume, Mary Gulbranson and Jana Dittmer.
The Cafe- Carol Nelson, Jason Meiners, Cindy Wiebke, Bonnie Heim and JoAnn Swartzhoff.
Maggies- Dianne Schuldt, Francis Bruening, Russell Kruse, Julie Thompson and Bonnie Tollefson.
PJ’s- Dan Bulman, Brenda Westby and Deb Reed.
Goodtimes- Carin Myhre, Jan Palen, Dorothy Petit and Cheryl Solum.
Dairy Queen- Pam Wood, Muriel Schroeder, Ron and Joyce Vonderohe, Lillian Wohlers and Neil Folstad.
Harmon’s High Chaparral- Angela Murphy, Sue Handford and Carin Myhre.
Kwik Trip- Amy Monson and Arnie Beneke.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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