Another week, another draw, and another unsuccessful attempt to find the ace of spades in the ongoing Hagersville Lions Club “Catch the Ace.”
Thursday night was the 42nd draw in the progressive fundraising lottery game.
While the ace was not found, Mary McGugan-Lane was this week’s lucky winner, taking home $147,752 after envelope number 19 was opened to reveal the King of Clubs.
"Catch the Ace" fever has taken over the town of Hagersville, drawing crowds from nearby towns and cities, and some even coming from out of province for a chance to claim the progressive lottery prize that has grown to over $1.4 million.
“I’ve heard people are flying in from Manitoba. I’ve heard people are flying in from Alberta,” Tanya Ribbink, the vice-chair of the Hagersville Lions Club Catch the Ace committee told CTV News earlier in the day.
The event was live-streamed to the Hagersville Lions Club Facebook page, and at one point, over 6,000 people tuned into the draw.
During the video, Dan Matten, the event chair with the Hagersville Lions Club, said a record-breaking 110,942 tickets were sold for Thursday’s draw.
Matten said those ticket sales resulted in $738,760.
The total jackpot increased to $2,261,219, Matten said.
To date, the club has sold over $4.2 million worth of tickets.
“Only a small community like ours can do that,” said Matten.
Half of the money raised goes to charity, while 30 per cent of funds go into the progressive jackpot that grows each week until the Ace of spades of is revealed and 20 per cent of funds raised go to the weekly winner whose ticket is drawn.
While nobody was able to find the ace, if they were able to, they would have walked away with $1,409,042.
Since it was not found, the progressive jackpot system means next week’s draw is expected to be even higher.
Tickets are $10 each or three for $20 and are sold in person at the Hagersville Legion on Thursdays from 10:30 am to 7:30 pm with the draw held at 8 p.m.
