December 31, 2014: Bay Treasure Chest Winner of Largest Prize to Date $18,812

(L to R): Norman Picton, Bay Treasure Chest; Sherry Piercey, Winner; and, Tony VanNorden, Owner of Smitty’s in Upper Tantallon

Sherry Piercey played her lucky #1999 every week for 31 weeks since she registered on June 4^th and was rewarded for her loyalty by winning $18,812… the largest prize to date! On December 31^st she was presented with a cheque by Norman Picton, Bay Treasure Chest Planning Committee member. Sherry played her number this week at Smitty’s Restaurant in Tantallon and is our second winner from Stillwater Lake. It is interesting to note that both our largest and second largest prizes have been won by people who have played their numbers at the Smitty’s location.

When asked how she would spend her winnings, a very excited Sherry said “this is an awesome way to end 2014, we will plan a family vacation for the New Year. I will go out on the town with my best friend of 30 years who was with me when I got the phone call and the remainder will be spent on repairs to the house”.

Sherry commented that the Bay Treasure Chest supports, and is all about the community and commended the effort by all the volunteers who are involved. She loves “rollovers”!

November 19, 2014: Howard Gray, Bay Treasure Chest volunteer presents Dolores Boutilier with cheque for $2,505

Dolorus Boutilier, the winner of the November 19^th draw, was presented with a cheque for $2,505 at RBC, Upper Tantallon. Dolores registered #191 for the April 16^th draw and has played that number regularly at Goodlife. A lucky date for her, as it is her birthday. Dolores lives in Indian Harbour and is well known as the local “Avon” representative. Dolores and her husband have their house for sale and recently bought a piece of land in Seabright, and have plans to use the $2,505 to put in a driveway. Her husband recently had to have $3,000 of repairs done to his boat so she was delighted to be the Week #32 winner. She reitterated what a successful initiative Bay Treasure Chest is and commends the volunteers who give up their time to benefit the community.

October 29, 2014: Betts Tomlinson of Hammonds Plains, a $7,492 Winner with #3410

It pays to stay in shape! This week’s winner of the Bay Treasure Chest prize of $7,492 was Betts Tomlinson seen here on the left with her friend Nyree Laviolette, who take turns playing their own and each other’s Toonies each week. This week, Nyree played their Toonies at Goodlife Fitness, while usually they play at Edible Matters restaurant.

“I’ll do anything to play those Toonies!”, Nyree said. Betts said she will give $500 of her winnings to their friend Leslie Hearn, who got her and Nyree to start playing weekly in the Bay Treasure Chest’s 50/50 community draw. Betts plans to use some of her winnings to hire Nyree’s husband, Bryant Laviolette, and his home improvement company to paint her kitchen cupboards.

October 8, 2014: Pauline Redden registered her winning #3111 on her birthday… and won $4,767

Pauline Redden, a local Bay resident, was the lucky winner of the Bay Treasure Chest draw in week #26 on October 8th. She was presented with a $4,767 cheque by Susan Picton from the Bay Treasure Chest in the presence of Ian Fawcett the owner of Lefty’s where she played her lucky number. Pauline registered her winning number on her birthday on September 17th because she thought it would be lucky and it certainly was! When asked what she would do with the money her response was: “I have 2 sons in University so there is always something to spend the money on”. Pauline added that “…Bay Treasure Chest is an amazing community venture, it gets people into the local establishments, the money stays in the community and she can’t believe how everyone is watching their email on a Wednesday night to find out who the winner is”.

September 17, 2014: Margaret Talbot of Dartmouth wins $12,052 in Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 Draw with #536

The winner of the largest Bay Treasure Chest prize yet, a whopping $12,254, was a very happy Margaret Talbot. Margaret, from Dartmouth, spends the summer months in Hubbards, and she registered her number #3944 at Smitty’s restaurant in Upper Tantallon. Margaret said this couldn’t have come at a better time since her car, which is now ten years old, desperately needs to be replaced.

August 6, 2014: Edie Richardson of Hacketts Cove wins $3,052 in Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 Draw with #536

For the second time in two months there has been a winner of the Bay Treasure Chest’s weekly draw by a resident of Hackett’s Cove, both of whom play regularly at the Whale’s Back Country Store. Edie Richardson on the left is the winner of the August 6th weekly draw and is shown here receiving a cheque for $3,052 from Gwen Colman, Bay Treasure Chest Shift Supervisor and volunteer.

Edie, a very spry 92 year old, said that she is very surprised and grateful to receive the $3,052 prize. When asked how she plans to spend the money she said “… being on a fixed income the first thing I will do is put it toward a new hearing aid which is very expensive but necessary for me to enjoy my quality of life, then there are so many other places where the money could go that I haven’t decided where the rest will go yet”.

The Bay Treasure Chest has only been operating for 17 weeks but has already paid out a total of $19,946 in prizes and distributed $12,500 to the 5 community-based stakeholder organizations it supports.

July 16, 2014: Laura Merrimen of Hubbards wins $1,481 in Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 Draw

Norman Picton, a Bay Treasure Chest Volunteer and Committee member, presents a cheque for $1,481 to Laura Merrimen at Delish Fine Foods in Tantallon, where she works.

Laura’s winning number was #861, one of two numbers she plays weekly at Delish. She is our first winner from the Hubbards area and coincidentally this is the second week in a row that the winning number was played at Delish whose owner is an enthusiastic supporter of the BTC initiative.

Laura is a musician and when asked how she would be using her winnings she said “wisely, which includes setting up a home studio so I can pursue my music”.

July 9, 2014: Nicole Sullivan wins $4,188 in Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 Draw

Lucky #13 for Bay Treasure Chest Winner Nicole Sullivan!

Harry Cook, Bay Treasure Chest Coordinator, presents a cheque for $4,188 to the winner of the 13th week’s draw to Nicole Sullivan, a teller at the Royal Bank branch in Upper Tantallon. The number 13 turned out to be lucky for Nicole Sullivan, a teller at the Royal Bank in Upper Tantallon, whose number 1315 was picked from the drum on July 9th… the 13th week of the Bay Treasure Chest community fundraising initiative. Nicole plays every week at Delish, located two doors down from where she works. Nicole was overjoyed to receive the call on her cell 5 minutes after her number was drawn. When asked what she planned to do with the money she said “I have 3 teens… need I say more? One needs braces, one is off to university this fall and a second will be going to university in a year’s time so this money couldn’t have come at a better time!”

June 12, 2014: Beth Covey wins $6,450 in Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 Draw

“Persistence pays off – Big Time!“ The June 11th Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 winner Beth Covey started playing her number 355 at Lefty’s Restaurant at the first Treasure Chest draw in April and continued playing her Toonies through five consecutive rollovers.

The Treasure Chest crew were all delighted to hear Beth’s $6,450 shriek of joy when we called her from the draw at the Royal Bank.

Beth has a good idea. She plans to hang onto her winnings for a while so she can spend them over and over again in her mind, and spoil her grandsons a bit too.

April 30, 2014: Andrea Christ, Haliburton Hills, wins $1,054 in Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 Draw

Andrea Christ wins $1,054 in the Bay Treasure Chest 50/50 draw April 30, 2014. The number “13”, with 2 zeros after it, proved to be a lucky number 1300 for Andrea Christ at the Bay Treasure Chest draw Wednesday evening April 30th.

Upon hearing the good news Andrea exclaimed “I’ve never won anything in my life! I’m a single mom and this money will come in really useful. I have gutters to put on my house, and my daughter starts university next September.”

Andrea (right) drove down from Haliburton Hills to pick up her $1,054 cheque at the Royal Bank in Tantallon from Fred Dolbel (Bay Treasure Chest, left). Andrea deposited her numbered Toonie at Redmond’s Home Hardware at the Tantallon Crossroads. Her prize included the $344 roll-over from last week when the winning number in last week’s draw was not played.

April 16, 2014: Debi Platt, Timberlea wins $896 in First Bay Treasure Chest Draw

Playing #167, her number for life, Debi Platt (right) of Timberlea is $896 richer as the very first winner of Bay Treasure Chest’s weekly draw held on April 16th. Shown here presenting the cheque to Debi is Anne Martell (left), representing the Stewardship Association’s Bay Treasure Chest Initiative.

Debi Platt says some of the proceeds will go towards providing something extra to go along with the Easter meal that she will be preparing for the patients at the NS Rehab Centre where she has worked for the past 25 years. For 24 of those years, Debi has prepared special meals for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas and Easter. A small portion of the funds, she said, will go towards an extra treat for her dog, Bently.