Roy Tinney was enjoying a visit with friends at A&W when he found out he won a 2024 Jeep Wrangler.
Tinney won the grand prize of the 100 Mile House Wranglers 2024/2025 raffle on Sunday, Jan. 12. He told the simplymastery he was beyond excited when he heard the news.
"I was surprised. I was in A&W with friends having a coffee when Greg Aiken (president of the 100 Mile House Wranglers) called. It surprised the hell out of me," Tinney remarked. "It's always nice to win something. I've been watching the team now since they started, I have season tickets and they have been playing so well (this season). It's a good thing to see."
The raffle was conducted at noon at the South Cariboo Rec Centre with Aiken, members of the public and the 100 Mile House Wranglers themselves all looking on and cheering. In addition to Tinney, former 100 Mile House Wrangler Austin Turner won the second place prize of a Can-Am, Outlander XT 700 quad and South Cariboo local Kate Lang won a boat with a 24 horsepower motor. The 50/50 ticket draw was won by Heidi Zetzsche who brought home $4,180.
"We know all the winners and they're all local other than Austin Turner and he was a player on our championship team so that's another connection to home town 100 Mile House," Aiken remarked. "Congratulations to all the local winners."
Aiken noted that this was a pretty big raffle to hold in a community of 100 Mile House's size and he felt that it went pretty well. The club was able to break even on their initial investment and while all the tickets were not sold, he noted that just gave everyone who did buy a ticket a better chance of winning.
This year, the raffle was conducted online via rafflebox.ca with 4,000 tickets available. By Sunday the Wranglers had sold 2,233 tickets raising $99,280 before expenses. Wranglers vice-president Miles Bucknell, who first came up with the idea, said while they didn't sell quite as many tickets as he was hoping, the raffle was still a success.
"I'm glad some local people won it and I know we had some support from across the province. Unfortunately, not everyone could win," Bucknell remarked. "I appreciate the support we got from the community. We have great fans and some of the highest attendance records for our games. It's good our community supports us and for that we thank them."
Now semi-retired, Tinney has been living in 100 Mile House for 51 years and still runs a pet crematorium on the side. Since the Wranglers came to 100 Mile House over 11 years ago he's supported them by attending games and taking part in previous raffles.
This year Tinney said he was a little peeved the raffle was all online and waited until he could buy tickets in person, face to face. When he did he said he bought two packs of three tickets.
"I like the good old come in and say hi to somebody and buy a ticket. It's just more personal," he remarked.
When asked if expected to win Tinney chuckled and said you're always hoping. Now that he's won Tinney remarked he's not sure if he's going to take the Jeep Wrangler home or simply take the cash payout instead, noting he'll have to discuss things with his wife first.
"We each have a vehicle but I had a Jeep when I was younger, a 70 Jeepster Commando, and I just absolutely loved it and wore it out pretty much," Tinney remarked. "My youngest daughter loves Jeeps, so we'll see what happens."
With this raffle now done Aiken and Bucknell said they'll just be running their usual 50/50 draws during games for the rest of the season as far as fundraising goes. Aiken said if they do end up doing another raffle of this scale next year they've learned a few things, such as the fact rafflebox didn't allow anyone from outside of B.C. to buy tickets initially. He added they would also likely try to set it up so tickets would be available both online and in person.
"We've had a few discussions about it but nothing is set yet. That will be for next year's plan," Bucknell added.
Aiken noted that if the team keeps up its current momentum this season 100 Mile House will be hosting playoff games for the first time in a year and will have a real shot at winning the division and the KIJHL as a whole.
"We're focusing on playoffs now. That's where we all want to get to and we're looking at wrapping up first place in our division and getting ready to host some playoff games," Aiken remarked. "Now we have the chance to have home-ice advantage for at least the first two rounds. It's pretty exciting stuff."
