Newtown Goes For The Gold Again At Annual Rotary Raffle

By Steve Bigham

Newtown resident Ronald Tietjen walked away with 12 ounces of gold – valued of nearly $3,340 – at last Saturday’s 18th annual Newtown Rotary Reverse Order Gold Raffle.

Dr Tietjen’s number was the 250th name drawn out of the hopper at the Fireside Inn, making him this year’s grand prize winner. He and his wife, Mary, were not in attendance for the event, but Rotarian Bob Grossman called the Tietjen residence at 11 o’clock that night with the good news.

  As of Tuesday, an ounce of gold had a value of about $278, way down from its high of nearly $400 a couple of years ago.

   “Those coins are just gorgeous. I wish we didn’t have to put them in the safe deposit box,” noted Mary Tietjen. “We were thrilled. We get in every year.”

  Dr Grossman reportedly handed over the coins to Dr Tietjen Monday at Danbury Hospital.

The rules of the raffle state that the first ticket and then every 10th ticket chosen nets the entry two-tenths of an ounce gold coin. Also, the 50th ticket chosen wins one ounce of gold, the 100th ticket receives two ounces of gold, the 150th ticket chosen receives four ounces of gold, and the person whose number is chosen 200th wins six ounces of gold.

 Big winners included Donald J. Kowats, who won six ounces of gold, Donald Studley, who won four ounces, and John Urcioli, who won two ounces of gold.

The highlight of the evening came early on when the numbered balls spilled out of the hopper and onto the floor. Rotarians quickly scrambled to pick up the balls, making sure none were lost.

The rules allow that after the 100th ticket is drawn, holders of “live tickets” may auction their tickets to other gold raffle ticket purchasers. However, that practice has subsided  in recent years as the price of gold has dropped.

The event, coordinated by Dan Honan, is the largest fund-raiser of the year for the Newtown Rotary Club, with approximately $15,000 being raised this year. The funds are used to benefit various charities and scholarships in Newtown and throughout the world.