Date: Fri 28-Mar-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Rotary-Gold-Raffle-Humeston

Full Text:

with photos: The Humestons Take Home The Gold In Rotary Raffle

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Joe and Ginger Humeston of Newtown are this year's grand prize winners in the

Newtown Rotary Club's 15th annual Gold Coin Raffle.

The couple won 12 Troy ounces of gold, valued at more than $4,500, last

Saturday at the Fireside Inn. Their ticket was the last one chosen among 200

entries in the "reverse order" auction.

All night, the Humestons watched as one ticket after another was pulled from

the hopper. With about 10 names left, theirs had still not been called. That's

when Mrs Humeston began to feel those winning vibes.

"I thought, ooh, I think we might win this," she recalled.

Moments later, contest officials Mike Snyder and Robert Grossman finally

pulled the Humestons name and they were presented 12 one-ounce American Eagle

gold coins.

The current market value for gold is $380 per ounce.

There were other winners as well. 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 wins four ounces of gold and the

200th ticket wins 12 ounces.

The rules allow that after the 100th ticket is drawn, holders of "live

tickets" may auction their tickets to other Gold Raffle ticket purchasers. Mr

Humeston admitted he considered putting the ticket up for bid. "I kept

thinking of the old saying, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," he

said.

However, his wife had a premonition and they both agreed to hold on to their

ticket. The rest is history.

"The tension was really starting to build toward the end. We were very

fortunate," said Mr Humeston, an executive vice president at the Newtown

Savings Bank. "It's really a great fund-raiser and the whole night was a great

time. Everyone congratulated us."

Betsy Hartmayer of New Haven won four ounces of gold, David Kaufman of Newtown

walked away with two ounces of gold and Gary Clayton of Easton took home an

ounce of gold.

Those winning two-tenths of an ounce of gold included Robert Hall, Kevin

Crookston, Gary Fetzer, David Rosato, James Benvenuti, Arnold Malekoff,

William Hennessy, David Spencer, Paul Gehrett, Mike Padula, Dot and Duane

Baumert, Mike Snyder, Susan Fetzer, W.P. Stewart, Bob Kern and Dale Cone, the

Rotary Club of Brookfield and Travis Doto.

The event, coordinated by Michael Grillo, is the largest fund-raiser of the

year for the Newtown Rotary Club, with approximately $10,500 being raised this

year. The funds are used to benefit various charities and scholarships in

Newtown.