Marquette, MI – December 19, 2019 – After several months of hype and thousands of entries, we were joined by 220 people tonight at River Rock Lanes and Banquet Center for our final giveaway of the year! There were door prizes to given away, a delicious meal to be enjoyed, and a search for a winner for our grand prize, the $7,200 Living Room of Your Dreams. It was a great way to say goodbye to 2019! Thanks to world renowned designer Rita Rossway at Interiors by Design, Sara Mueller went home to sit in her old couch a final time. Her new living room set includes a sofa and accent pillows, two lamps, an end table, cocktail table, console table, easy chair, area rug, wall art, decor, and home delivery!
It was all hands on deck tonight for our staff as we worked to get everyone through the doors and settled in! Joining the banquet center around 6:30pm, Amy and Abbie, with help from Madison and Sabrina, collected invites and handed out door prize and finalist tickets. During each party, every person who receives an invitation is allowed to bring one guest, who can always win something during the evening from our large door prize selection!
The Sunny morning show duo Mark Evans and Walt Lindala were on the mics tonight as emcees for the evening. Dawn Evans also helped read off the ticket numbers of the lucky door prize winners. As the last guests found their sets, Mark and Walt welcomed everyone into River Rock for our last party of 2019. The guys gave a quick thank you to all our sponsors who helped make tonight possible before the duo began awarding some fantastic door prizes! Among the goodies handed out tonight was the crowd favorite, the “Bag of Drinks”. These baggies include drink tokens from bars and restaurants all over Marquette County like The Up North Lodge, The Throttle and Wooden Nickel. Local landscape photographer Lauren Bareiss of Saddleback Photo provided a 2020 calendar just in time for the new year featuring six of the country’s National Parks. Included among the door prizes were growlers from Kountry Korner Shell, hats from Pomp’s Tire, and pizza & koozie packs from Jet’s Pizza.
Breaking for dinner, Dawn released tables sending hungry guests to the bar room to fill up their plates! Mama Russo’s catered another incredible meal for us with lasagna, cudighi bites, and their signature homemade salads.
Once everyone had a chance to grab some grub, the night of prizes continued! We sent a few oil changes from Quality Car Care out into the crowd along with a Chevy mug and coaster set from our very own Eric Kuntz! Brown’s Store also donated a Steak Dinner for 2 perfect for the holidays. With all of the door prizes for the night given out, it was time to move on to the main event, finding us a grand prize winner.
Before we started calling out finalists, Sarah Johnson, the volunteer coordinator from the organization Christmas is for Veterans, came up to give a few words about the charity. Guests of tonight’s giveaway were asked to bring a donation to help support the charity. The box we had put out to take donations was overflowing within minutes of guests arriving. It was so great to see the community giving back for the holidays.
Dawn grabbed the finalist bucket full of potential winners and started drawing numbers! Dawn announced the numbers, and one by one the first five finalist came up to select their station envelope. Pausing before drawing the last ticket, Mark invited Eric from Bergdahl’s to come up and reveal our new prize. Next up, we’re giving away a 46″ Cub Cadet ULTIMA ZT1 Zero Turn mower that will make your yard work a breeze! Visit the official ULTIMA ZT1 Giveaway contest page to learn more about our new prize and how you can enter to win!
Finally, with nothing else left to giveaway or announce but a grand prize winner, the last ticket was drawn and finalist number six came up to select an envelope. With a count down from the crowd, the finalists pulled open their envelopes and Sara Mueller held up the winner sheet. Only one can win the big prize, but each finalist goes home with a major gift! Kelly Hill from Negaunee was the lucky winner who took home the 195 gallons of gas from Crossroads Mini Mart and Kountry Korner Shell. Paula Heten from Gwinn took home the Bay Mills Snowmobile Package for two, which includes a one night stay at the resort, two breakfast buffets and $15 each in free play and $15 each at Sacy’s Restaurant. The last three winners each received a unique gift basket. Wendy Nieani won the wine basket from Credit Union Trust. Tammie Kaukola from Skandia received the assorted Michigan made product basket from Tadych’s Econo Foods and Susan Ellis went home with the Bloody Mary mix basket from Super One Foods.
Thanks to all of our sponsors: Interiors by Design, Kountry Korner & Crossroads Mini Mart, Landmark Inn, The Piedmont, Northland Pub, O’Dea, Nordeen and Burink P.C., Jet’s of Marquette & Escanaba, Super One Foods of Marquette & Negaunee, Ojibwa Casino, Dr. Doug’s Auto Repair, Honor Credit Union, Tadych’s Econo Foods, Mama Russo’s, River Rock Banquet Center, Saddleback Photography, The Throttle, The Up North Lodge, Brown’s Store, Edge of Reality, Wood Jewelers, Credit Union Trust, Swick Home Services, Bay Mills Resort and Casino, Barr’s Bar, Jackson’s Pit, The Royal Pub, Smarty’s Saloon, Third Base Bar, Venice Pub & Pizzeria, Wooden Nickel, Pomp’s Tire, Quality Car Care, HBA, and Teal Lake Pizzeria.
Check out other posts and pics here: foxsportsmarquette.com, sunny.fm, wrup.com.
