Around three hundred people packed the Forbes Inn last Friday to witness the nail-biting draw of the Red Bend Catholic College car raffle.
It was local couple Kevin and Colleen Gunn who came up trumps, scooping the prize pool for the evening by winning a new Mazda.
“It was absolutely wonderful,” winner Colleen Gunn said, “very unexpected.”
Mrs Gunn described the feeling as being “unbelievable” and said she was “gob smacked” when they won.
“We have four boys so of course they all lay claim to it,” Mrs Gunn said.
While Mr and Mrs Gunn have a choice between a Mazda Two or a Suzuki Swift, they both agree they will probably take the Mazda Two.
Only 300 tickets were up for grabs in the raffle, with each ticket selling for $100. The tickets were continuously drawn during the evening with mystery prizes awarded to every fourth or fifth ticket sold.
The winner of the car was the last ticket to be drawn from the barrel.
Mr Gunn said he was glad when the draw was over, having sat through the announcement of 299 other ticket holders.
“I thought typically I’d be the last one out,” he said.
The irony of the win wasn’t lost on Mr Gunn, who said he had been speaking to Graham Thompson earlier in the evening.
“I’d spoken to him [Graham Thompson] an hour earlier and had thought I’d get my next car off him,” Mr Gunn said.
Both Mr and Mrs Gunn agree they had a great night with their friends and said the evening was run very well.
“It was run brilliantly,” Mrs Gunn said, “they acknowledged everyone who bought a ticket.”
Mr Gunn said he has been overwhelmed by the experience; by the number of people who turned up on the night and by the number of well-wishers since.
“They had a broad base of community members there,” Mr Gunn said, saying half were from Parkes and half were from Forbes, “and that’s what the college is about,” Mr Gunn said.
When the evening came to the final 20 tickets to be drawn, the ticket holders where required to stand out the front.
“I was glad Colleen made me change my shirt,” Mr Gunn said.
Second prize was a signed St George guernsey, which Mr Gunn said he didn’t want, so when the draw came down to the final two he offered the other ticket holder $5000 for her ticket.
The runner-up ticket was held by a syndicate which included Niahm Lyons, who was present on Friday evening, Jenene Pout and Jodie Dietsch.
Mr Gunn said he would now toot his car horn at Niahm in fun when he passes her down the street.
President of the Parents and Friends Association for the college, Marion Barrass said she was pleased with the night and how well it was received by the community.
“It was an outstanding success. We raised in excess of $10,000 for the P and F and that will go to new security lockers for the students at the school,” Mrs Barrass said.
Mr and Mrs Gunn weren’t able to take the car home on the night, but will be meeting with Graham Thompson from John Davis Mazda to select a car and their preferred colour.
“I feel like I’ve won the lotto twice because I’ve got Kev too. He’s worth winning,” Mrs Gunn said.
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