Red Deer Kinsmen’s Dream Home Lottery is celebrating 35 years with a grand prize beauty of a bungalow worth $741,930.
The 12 prizes in the 2016 lottery are worth a total of $822,304 and include a new Ford Mustang as the runner-up prize. Some of the early bird prizes are a trip for four to Puerto Vallarta, a trip to watch the Toronto Blue Jays, and a golf getaway to British Columbia.
Craig Smallwood, dream home chair, said the grand opening of the dream home on the weekend attracted about 700 people.
“We have an amazing following. So many people you see year after year. You start to remember people which is kind of neat,” Smallwood said on Tuesday.
He said the 1,500 square-foot, four-bedroom dream home has been described as “modern earthy” with glass and wood accents.
The Dream Home Lottery is the city’s longest running dream home lottery.
He said the lottery has become part of Red Deer and Kinsmen have just been providing a way for people to support their community.
“We set up a platform for the community to come together. It’s not really the Kinsmen who are doing all these things.”
Money raised by the lottery funds local projects and programs run by different agencies and community groups. Money from the 50-50 draw will go to Red Deer Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity Red Deer Region.
This year 19,500 dream home tickets are available, up from 14,100 last year.
Smallwood said a five-ticket package was added this year because the public’s demand to purchase multiple tickets.
Dream home tickets are sold one for $100, three for $250 and five for $375.
This year the winner of the 50/50 ticket draw will take home $125,000, up from $75,000 last year.
Tickets for the 50/50 draw are one for $10, five for $25 and 15 for $50.
The loyalty draw cutoff is Nov. 1. and the early bird cutoff is Nov. 29.
Tickets for the Dec. 31 dream home draw can be purchased at the dream home, open Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., or by calling 403-356-3900, or online at https://reddeerkinsmen.com/dream-home-lottery.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com