It’s all said and done for the 28th edition of the Snow Castle on Yellowknife Bay, but there was one last little order of business for 2023.
And it involved money.
The winners of the King of the Hill Reverse Raffle were announced on Saturday … or perhaps it was the Queen of the Hill. That’s because all of the winners were women.
Linda Bussey was the last name out of the hat in this year’s big raffle and took home the grand prize of $3,500. Rosanna Strong was the second-last ticket out and copped $2,750, while Kelly Stack took home $2,100 for third-last and Aggie Brockman won $1,400 as the fourth-last.
Shane Clark — aka Snowpoke — is a board member on the organizing committee and said a total of 343 tickets were sold for the raffle and it ended up being a survival of the fittest of sorts.
“Snowking would read out around 18 names a day and the first person whose name came out won $100, so their money back,” he said. “The last person drawn that day was put back into the raffle for a second chance at winning.”
Two draws were held for that part of the raffle with Rosalind Mercredi and Margaret Bell each winning $350.
Clark said the angst of people watching the daily draws to see if they survived — or were tossed off the hill — became a highlight over the course of the Snow Castle’s life.
“It was a fun way to raise money,” he said. “There were three raffles that day: AVENS, the Stanton Foundation and ours. All three of them great causes and all had different ways to raise money.”
The proceeds from this year’s raffle totalled around $17,000 and Clark said that will be put toward the construction of the 29th Snow Castle for 2024.
“It’s going to go into the general fund, but it’s a great chance to recognize the construction crew,” he said. “A very dedicated group of people spent two months in some rather extreme temperatures to build the castle and it was another great year.”