No ace of spades yet

Chase the Ace fundraiser continues for Rodeo Club

The Chase the Ace fundraiser for the Lovell Rodeo Club has been a big success, board member Charis Bischoff said this week.

The fundraiser, in which one card from a full deck is drawn each week, has been running since February, and as of last week, the cherished ace of spades had yet to be drawn.

In the progressive raffle, people may enter the raffle by purchasing tickets at $5 each, as many as a person wants. There is a weekly drawing of one ticket with a new pot of money built each week.

Ticket sales end each Tuesday night, and one winner is drawn each Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Each winner can claim 20 percent of that week’s pot and the chance to draw a card from a 54-card deck (including two jokers), hoping to draw the ace of spades. If the ace is not drawn, the card drawn will be torn in half and removed from the deck, increasing the odds of winning the ace in the next drawing.

For each week’s pot, 20 percent goes to the winner, 30 percent goes into the progressive pot and 50 percent goes to the rodeo club.

Tickets are available from rodeo club members, at any of Lovell’s three bars -- the Diamond J, Shoshone Bar and the 4 Corners, online via the club’s website: www.lovellrodeoclub.com or through Venmo at Venmo@Lovell-Rodeo-Club.

Each week’s drawing rotates among the three bars. The November 13 drawing was at the 4 Corners, and last night’s drawing (November 20) was scheduled for the Diamond J, Bischoff said.

“Once we put all of the tickets that are bought into a bucket, we usually just have somebody random in the crowd draw for us, or one of our members, and whoever’s name is drawn will get 20 percent of that week’s ticket sales,” Bischoff said. “This last week our ticket sales were almost $2,600.”

The weekly winner received $518, she said, noting that, as of last week there were 15 cards left in the deck, including the coveted ace of spades, and after the Wednesday drawing, there were now 14 left.

A person doesn’t have to be present to win, and if their name is drawn, someone will draw on their behalf for the ace. The 2 of hearts was drawn November 13, Bischoff added.

As of last week, the progressive pot had reached $13,159, so the ace of spades winner could have won around $6,500.

“I thought it would have happened by now,” Bischoff said. “I always said, if we could get to week 20, that would be about halfway. I would have been happy with week 20, and that ended up being around Mustang Days, so we had a battle of the bars that week to really boost the sales, so now we just keep going.

“I almost started a rumor about myself. I made the comment (at the drawing) that people have had babies during this time. It’s, like, 40 weeks; that’s a full-term pregnancy. And the looks I got. And I said, ‘No, not me. I’m not pregnant. But I’m saying people have had children in this length of time.’”

The project has raised more than $20,000 for the rodeo club, which is using the money for upgrades to the rodeo grounds.

“It all goes back to the rodeo grounds,” Bischoff said. “We would love to have bathrooms, like a concessions stand and bathroom (facility), but that takes a lot of funds. We’re looking at buying a tractor to be able to work the grounds. We’ve already bought a new chute and a storage container for our stuff. And we’re looking at buying some rough stock and equipment like a couple of roping dummies. We put several thousands of dollars worth of sand in the rodeo grounds.”

Bischoff said the club did have to back out of managing the rodeo grounds, noting that the club could not afford the necessary insurance. And so the club turned operations back to the Town of Lovell, which owns the land and facility, and Bischoff has been working with Wayne Brost, head of the Lovell Western Sports Arena and Motorsports Board, which has managed the rodeo grounds for many years.

As for the Chase the Ace fundraiser, Bischoff said the project has been taxing on rodeo club board members, who have to run each week’s drawing.

“We’ve had a lot of people ask us about it. ‘Would you do it again?’ We want to, but personally, I need some time,” Bischoff said. “It’s a huge commitment. And when I’m gone, somebody else is doing it and trying to pick up those pieces. It’s a good moneymaker. There’s a lot of potential.

“We have a good crew on our rodeo club, but this has taken a lot of time. This is a weekly commitment, two nights a week either picking up tickets or doing the drawing and going through all that. It’s a lot of extra on our team.”

For more information, contact the Lovell Rodeo Club at 307-254-9577. Full Chase the Ace rules are available at the club’s website.