The 100 Mile House Wranglers are taking a new approach to fundraising this year thanks to Miles Bucknell.
Bucknell, the vice president of the Wranglers, is leading their efforts to make this year's raffle more interesting for the community and profitable for the team. This year, rather than just a cash prize, those who enter the raffle will have a chance to win a brand-new 2024 Jeep Wrangler from Regency Chryseller, a brand-new Can-Am ATV from Performance All Terrain and a boat motor and trailer from South Cariboo Motorsports.
"This year we decided to do something different. We've got a Jeep Wrangler, a Can-Am Quad and a boat motor and a trailer worth $82,000 in prizes," Bucknell said. "We hope everyone supports us because it will be a big boost for our club, financially. We really kicked it out of the box this year to do something different."
Unlike many who volunteer for the Wranglers, Bucknell has no past experience playing hockey. A longtime forestry employee, Bucknell is no stranger to volunteering his time and finding ways to give back to the community, noting he's been living in the South Cariboo since 1990.
"It's what small towns do, right? If I didn't enjoy doing it I wouldn't do it."
When the team first came to town in 2013 he started working security for their games and came to love what the team was about. He especially enjoyed watching the development of the Wrangler Nation, noting the team had a good crowd of fans who comes out to every game.
As time passed Bucknell began to volunteer with the team and association more, helping out with whatever they needed at community events and serving the team food after games. He has also prided himself on getting to know the players and being someone they can come to when they have problems.
"I'll go on the road with them and Trisha Edwards' mom cooks all their meals and we make sure they get fed. We make sure they want for nothing while they are out there representing our town and playing hockey for us," Bucknell said. "I look at it as these kids come from out of town and we're cultivating a culture that's going to be part of them for the rest of their lives. So when they come here this needs to be an enjoyable experience for them. In another 10 or 15 years when they start having kids, you want to keep (that culture) going. Canada is about hockey, right, and if we don't cultivate that culture, it's going to die and we don't want that."
When the position of vice president came up three years ago Bucknell joked he got "Wrangled into it" but has enjoyed the experience so far.
Like the rest of the association, he was excited when the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League became a Junior A League. However, with the increased quality of competition has also come increased costs, on top of rising costs of fuel, hockey equipment and other necessities.
With that in mind, Bucknell said he and a few other members of the association have been thinking for some time now about doing something other than a cash raffle. When they first began doing the raffle there weren't too many other likes in town, but nowadays groups like the 100 Mile Ranch Lions, the 100 Mile District Hospice and Palliative Care Society and other groups also do cash lotteries or 50/50 draws.
"I said 'ok let's do something different'. I went out and lined everything up and made a presentation at one of our board meetings and it was accepted," Bucknell remarked. "It was a little nerve-wracking because I had to come to the board and ask them for $82,000 so we could buy prizes, but if it all plays out, it will be a good chunk of change for our organization. That means we'll be able to continue to operate at this level."
This year 4,000 tickets are available for the Wranglers raffle with tickets going for $50 for one and $120 for three. With 2,200 being sold in groups of three and 1,800 being sold signally.
Bucknell said this year ticket sales are all online and can be bought by looking up the 100 Mile House Wranglers at rafflebox.ca along with 50/50 tickets for the team's home games. Tickets are available now until Jan. 12, 2025, with the draw taking place shortly afterwards.
"We're excited about it. We hope we sell all 4,000 and if this pays off we're looking at doing it again," Bucknell remarked. "Support your Wranglers!"
The Wranglers Jeep will be on display during the Wranglers' home exhibition games on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the South Cariboo Rec Centre against the Quesnel River Rush and Williams Lake Mustangs respectively.
Editors Note: In the original article we printed that 2,200 tickets were being sold individually and 1,800 were being sold in groups of three when it is the opposite. We also printed an estimate for how much the Wranglers would make based on flawed math. We apologize for the error.
