The Rotary Club of Keizer held its annual Keizer Rotary Foundation Go for the Gold Raffle on Saturday, April 1, raising more than $45,000.
About 325 attendees dined on a chicken and beef buffet prepared by McKillip’s Catering of St. Paul.
Each year there is a first prize of gold and silver valued at $10,000. Second prize is $1,200 in cash.
Bonnie Schroeder of Keizer was the grand prize winner. Her stablemates erupted when she was announced the winner.
“Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed as she rushed to the dais. “I don’t win anything,” Schroeder said later.
She and her husband, Jim, bought two raffle tickets from long-time friend and Rotarian John Doneth. “We always buy tickets from John,” Bonnie said.
Harmony George of Lake Oswego won the $1,200 cash second prize. She bought her winning ticket from friend Betty Hart, also a Rotarian.
“I was pleased and surprised,” said George on learning she had won. “I’m luckier than most,” she added.
The annual raffle is the Keizer club’s primary fund raiser. This year, the club’s 30th Go for the Gold raffle had a M*A*S*H 4077 theme, prompting many attendees to dress as their favorite character from the popular television show. Former club president Nathan Bauer was the emcee for the evening. SMI was the title sponsor, which was joined by other corporate and table sponsors.
Money raised by the Rotary Club of Keizer from the annual raffle party is granted by the Keizer Rotary Foundation. Over the past five decades more than $1.2 million has been granted for a wide variety of community needs including scholarships. In recent years the foundation has granted money for the Santiam Canyon Wildlife Relief Fund and the Union Gospel Mission’s Simonka Place in Keizer.