2020 WINNERS’ STORIES
Stories from Bay Treasure Chest Winners
Congrats to Terri Boutilier, shown left, who won $22,800 in our June Online Monthly 50/50 Fundraiser!
Our February 26th winner, Cheryl Harnish, gets her cheque from BTC volunteer Harry Ward at Hubbards Pharmasave. On the day she won, Cheryl and her husband, Jerry, were in the lobby of their holiday hotel in Holguin, Cuba, when three calls came in on her phone. “I didn’t want to answer,” says Cheryl, “given the expense of an international call.” She then got a text message saying it was in her interest to call back. “I first thought someone was trying to sell me something, but then I said to Jerry, ‘BTC, what’s BTC?’ Then it hit me, and I called back!”
Turns out she didn’t need to worry too much about an expensive phone call: she had just won $25,444 when her BTC # 23223 was drawn. “The tears were coming, but I was also smiling,” she recounts. “I’m not sure what the other people in the lobby thought!”
Cheryl says the money “is already spent” on a new house she and Jerry are building close to Aspotogan Ridge Golf Course. But the first cash outlay resulting from the win happened in Cuba.
The Harnishes were there with their four grandchildren, ages 9 to 14. “It was part of a Christmas gift for them,” says Cheryl. “When I found out I won I upgraded their room to a suite… That was a trip they won’t forget.” #memories
Bill Sharkey poses with his wife, Dana, and BTC cheque for $12,220. Rola Jawhar, owner of Recardo’s Take-Out, where Bill’s winning toonie was played, looks on.
Bill and Dana have been playing their two BTC numbers steadily since April 30, 2014; Bill’s toonie with BTC# 1603 was the lucky winner on February 12th.
When Bill received the call on Wednesday afternoon he was waiting to pick up Dana at work. When she began yelling “Is he joking?” all over the office, her co-workers were pleased to hear that she had taken their reminder the day before — “Don’t forget to pay your toonies!”
Says Bill: “The Treasure Chest is good for the community.”
Here’s Cecil Greencorn when he collected his cheque for $12,666 at the new location of D&Jo’s, in Timberlea, from BTC volunteer Rick Muzyk. Cecil lived in Timberlea for a few years and ran the Bay Ducks Junior B hockey team; he now lives in Fairview but still has connections to the community. Some of his winnings will go to his son and daughter — he says daughter plans to take her family to Jack Frost Winterfest in Charlottetown next weekend with her share. He is also hoping to take a trip, to Nashville. #happytrails #congrats
Molly Whalen, of Upper Tantallon, gets her cheque from BTCA volunteer Harry Ward at Redmond’s, where Molly played her winning number.
Says Harry: “When I called Molly the first time someone picked up the phone, but all of a sudden the phone went dead and I assumed we got cut off. I called back and her son answered the phone; he thought I was one of those scammer phone callers, the reason for the hang up. Molly took the phone, and I gave her the good news. The first thing she said was that she was going to split the money with her sister in Cape Breton, who plays a 50/50 draw in her area. The deal was that if one won, they would split with the other.” #sisters #congrats
Wendy Brace (R), gets a thumb’s up from Ian Fawcett, owner of Lefty’s Restaurant & Lounge in Upper Tantallon, where Wendy played her winning BTC #20036.
Her telephone was quietly ringing in her locker while she was at work late yesterday afternoon. When it rang the third time she had just finished work, and answered it… to find out she had just won $12,581 in the Bay Treasure Chest draw.
“My cheeks are sore from smiling,” she says.
Wendy works in food service, and plays her four BTC numbers in locations she visits each week around St. Margaret’s Bay; Lefty’s was her lucky stop this time.
Keep on smilin’, Wendy!
All smiles for Cynthia Mantley, showing her cheque for $24,790 at D&Jo’s in Timberlea, where she played her winning number. “The money came at a great time, after the Christmas holidays,” says Cynthia. “I’m going to pay off some bills, treat myself to a trip, and put some money away for savings.” The Halifax resident is originally from Upper Hammonds Plains. “My brother told me about the Bay Treasure Chest, and how it’s a fundraiser for where we grew up, so I wanted to support it,” she says. “I have never won anything… I was floored when I found out!”
She got an email from BTCA director Rick Muzyk just as she was leaving work that day, saying she was a winner. “I didn’t open the email right away… I didn’t recognize the sender’s name; I wasn’t sure the email was legit,” she says. Still, curiosity got the best of her. She opened the email when she got home, and saw her BTC number referenced. The penny had dropped, if slowly.
A couple of weeks later, Cynthia says says she put a chunk of her winnings in retirement investments, working towards an early retirement. “It’s too early for me to have specific retirement plans,” she says. “I’ve got my mom living with me; I like to spend time with family, relaxing, travel. You do what you can, when you can; you work with what you have.”
Copyright © 2014-2024 Bay Treasure Chest Association, St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. All Rights Reserved.