Saturday night, the Brownwood Country Club was packed with many hopeful supporters of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Brown County as they raffled (in reverse) the choice of winning a new Chevy Equinox, Dodge Ram or Ford Mustang at their Wheels and Deals event. In the end, the one lucky winning ticket was held by Phil and Judy Fenton of Brownwood.
This raffle was different than most would expect as the winner was the last ticket drawn. 515 tickets were sold out of a limited 775 possible sales. Numbers of the 260 tickets that did not sell were eliminated and not available for purchase at the event. Masters of ceremony were former Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey, Keith Clark and Jill Evans.
One by one, participants waited for nearly three and a half hours as numbers were eliminated. As the last ten ticket holders names were announced, they had a chance to auction off their tickets and donate another 10% of the earnings to the BBBS. Chris Cadenhead served as the auctioneer for the night.
Only two of the top ten ticket holders were present, Paul Waldrop, Jr. and Janna Hale. Being good sports, they entertained bids, but refused them all hoping to be the winner. Hale was eliminated as the tenth ticket drawn and Waldrop was the fourth drawn.
When the final ticket was drawn, Phil & Judy Fenton were announced, and Shane Blackshear Executive Director of BBBS called to tell the lucky winners (pictured above).
“Well I’ll be” said Phil Fenton. When asked what vehicle they would choose. Fenton stated that they would have to think it over for a while.
The Wheels and Deals fundraiser was the largest fundraiser BBBS had ever done.
“We raised more than we expected,” stated Blackshear. “We knew that the people of Brown County would support this organization if we found a creative way to make it happen.”
Pictured above is Shane Blackshear calling the winners. Below are photos from the event.
