MANOR - The Manor Community Recreation Board held a successful dinner and dance on Jan. 27 at the community hall, where they announced the winner for their snowmobile raffle.
Last fall the board and community began selling raffle tickets on a 2023 Riot Arctic Cat snowmobile.
According to Rylan Weir, ticket sales started off great but slowed down. A week prior to the dance, they had only sold half the tickets.
At this point, they had broken even and were thankful for that as the machine costs $22,000.
That week the push was on for ticket sales, and by the end of the week, all 2,500 tickets were sold.
The proceeds from the raffle and the dinner and dance are to help make improvements to the rink.
Weir said they want to be proactive in case a large project is needed at the rink, although he did say the tarps are beginning to see wear and tear and some metal was needed at the one end.
The night started with cocktails, and dinner was served a short time later to approximately 180 people.
Many last-minute guests attended with Wier’s Catering supplying the feast.
Minors were also allowed until 9 p.m. when the dance began with D.J. music.
Weir was the MC for the evening, and he offered great entertainment as he had the crowd laughing.He said he never writes anything down and just wings it while he is on stage.
A silent auction provided fun for all with 36 items donated by individuals and businesses in the area.
Some of the items were geared towards kids, giving the youngsters a chance to be in on the action.
He added games are always played at this annual event, and this year it was heads and tails. Each participant paid $5 to play and the last two standing shared the pot.
Tickets for 50/50 could be purchased throughout the night as well.
Before the grand-prize draw took place, two RCMP officers arrived to help.
The snowmobile was carried into the hall by volunteers and placed on the stage for ticket holders to eye the machine in the hopes they would be taking it home.
As the ticket was pulled, Weir announced that the sled would remain in Manor, which got the crowd's attention.
He then proceeded to call the winning phone number, which created silence until the winner realized this was his number.
Gerald King of Manor is the lucky winner. He came on stage and was told he could start up the machine for a few seconds, and as he did, one police officer asked him where his helmet was. One always needs to follow the rules of operating equipment.
Weir and the board are thankful to those who purchased tickets and supported the rink, as it helped raise over $27,000.
One of the next big events in Manor will be on Aug. 9 and 10. During Manor Daze, they will hold the usual events including a breakfast, parade and car show, but will add the Prairie Pulling League. This will include a monster truck, vintage tractor pulls and modified tractors for pulling.The PBR will no longer be held in Manor as last fall all the chutes were sold, and they needed something new and exciting to take its place with the Prairie Pulling League.
“These are the same tractors that pull in Yorkton and Odessa,” said Weir.
Many groups and organizations will be involved to make this a successful event, one that Weir said will be fun and full of excitement.
