Finally — A Raffle Worth Putting Your Gumboots On For!!
‘Better odds than lotto’ is what Central Southland Vintage Machinery Club’s vice president Shane Young has described the clubs latest fundraising venture.
Selling raffle tickets is no means a new way of raising funds, however when the prize is a brand-new, New Holland T6050 tractor with Stoll loader and bucket it’s certainly a step up from your standard raffle.
Club vice-president Shane Young, who also works for Agricentre, called on his contacts to help supply the big prize. Valued at $175,000+GST, it is a general farm tractor that was more than capable of tasks on most farms and good for a lot of other operations as well.
The 3200 raffle tickets, which cost $100 each, went on sale on November 15, with the winner to be drawn at the Southern Field Days at Waimumu at the Agricentre South site on Friday, February 13.
Tickets have been selling well, and due to limited numbers of tickets available, the odds are more favourable than winning lotto.
The raffle is open nationwide and there is the option if a tractor is a bit too large for your quarter acre section, you can trade it in, sell it on for that house deposit or the overseas holiday you’ve always wanted.
We are grateful for CNH (Case IH & New Holland) dealers nationwide for coming on board to help us get this raffle off the ground.
The club is building a new storage facility capable of housing up to 50 tractors, ensuring these incredible heritage machines can be viewed, enjoyed, and protected for future generations. Work on the shed has already started at its Winton premises, however significant funds are needed to bring the project through to fruition.
Part of the site at 10 Winton-Wreys Bush Highway, once home to a dairy factory, has undergone a significant transformation to prepare the site. Trees have been removed, and the site levelled with poles already installed as part of the build. Club members are doing as much of the construction work as possible. “There’s a good team of us on the job," Mr Young said.
The next step is raising funds to help pay for the materials needed to finish building the shed. Selling raffle tickets is part of that drive.
The need for more storage room shows the club's strength. Membership numbers were growing, especially from a younger age-group. Membership is not limited to ex farmers or retirees, "We're very lucky to have such a strong group of younger people from a range of backgrounds keen to get stuck in which brings new ideas and drive”
The club was incredibly fortunate to have a good site with a central location, but it needed the new shed to "thin things out" in its existing display areas.
"It will make the displays nicer, more open and easier to get around”
Many members had also run out of room to keep their vintage machinery at home and would like to have some of their own on show to the public.
The premises are open on the last Sunday of each month from 2pm to 4pm. Entry is by donation and children get in free.
The club, founded in 1973, is proud of its collection of early Southland equipment and the way its members work together to keep history alive.
Members meet on the last Tuesday of the month at the clubrooms on-site, host an annual ploughing match, and put on a harvest day to show their machinery in action.