Reverse Raffle

The idea of a Reverse Raffle was first noted in the Christ Child meeting minutes in May 1979. This activity was approved and scheduled for March 8, 1980 at St. Thomas Eastern Orthodox Church with Nancy Demeter as the first chairman. It was called "Count Down to Fun and Fortune" and the tickets were priced at $100.00. The prize was to be $4,000 and the actual profit was $5,600. The following year this event was held on Shrove Tuesday and called a Mardi Gras Celebration. It was chaired by Barb Neman with the tickets priced at $50.00. Each year since then the Reverse Raffle has been held at various locations including the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Our Lady of Cedars, St. George Fellowship Hall, Todaro's and Guy's Party Center. Sideboards became a part of the Reverse Raffle and in 1988 the new Reverse Raffle number boards and sideboards were made by the carpentry students at Central-Hower High School. Reserved seating for the dinner was begun in 1991.

A variety of themes have also been used over the years and music and dancing have been included most of the years. A silent auction became a part of this event in 2004. In 2007 the 28th Reverse Raffle and Silent Auction was held at the St. George Fellowship Centre with a 50's Theme and was co-chaired by Linda Hart and Linda Skeen. Tickets are now $75.00 and dinners are $30.00 each with a grand prize of $2,500. In recent years this raffle has been raising about $11,000 - $12,000 to support our service projects.