STAMPEDE WINNERS
Family plans to sell the home
Gary Wakelam guesses the last time he missed visiting the Calgary Stampede, he was about 12 years old.
But this past summer, things came up, and he and his family — who live just west of Nanton, about 90 kilometres south of Calgary — couldn’t make it out.
Ending that streak didn’t stop it from being a Calgary Stampede that the Wakelams will never forget.
“My wife was watching the news, screamed — and I came running,” says Gary Wakelam, who works as a dental technician in downtown Calgary. “She was running around the bedroom going, ‘we won the house, we won the house!’
“I was, like, ‘yeah right, don’t mess with me,’ ” he adds. “Then we were watching the news, they dialed, our phone rang and we were, like, ‘OK, this is happening.’ “
Gary and Marnie Wakelam, who have children named Hunter and Evie, are this year’s winners of the Calgary Stampede Rotary Dream Home by Homes by Avi, which is valued at $938,375.
Their win came from a bundle of tickets they purchased through the Calgary Stampede Lotteries website. Gary says they’ve bought tickets online ever since the option has been available.
The home is two storeys and 3,253 square feet including the finished basement, making it the largest Stampede Dream Home yet.
Its design borrows from Nordic Europe, with a focus on functionality and storage, along with elements of “hygge,” a Danish term (pronounced “hooga”) that emphasizes cosiness.
The home’s colour scheme features light-toned woods, greys, black accents, and eye-catching hexagon-themed inserts.
This year’s home was moved to a lot in Carrington, a new community in northwest Calgary by Genstar Development Co.
While the Wakelams are impressed by the home, they decided that they’ll be staying put, and sell it instead.
“We have a great place out there,” says Gary, of the acreage south of Calgary they’ve had for 14 years.
The day the Wakelams were presented the home was the first day they saw it in-person.
“I love the master bedroom, it’s great,” Gary says.
“My wife walked in there and was like ‘wait a minute,” he adds, laughing. “It’s beautiful.”
This is the 22nd Stampede Rotary Dream Home by Homes by Avi.
“It’s always something that we look forward to,” said Monte Kendall, the builder’s CEO, during an event to celebrate the Wakelams family receiving the keys to the home.
Homes by Avi is already starting to think about next year’s prize.
“It’s going to be hard to top this one, but they’re going to try,” Kendall says, of the builder’s design team.
“It’s our goal to put together a product that excites everybody, and when people walk in the home and see it on the grounds, they want to buy a ticket,” Kendall said.
Proceeds from the Stampede Rotary Dream Home lottery, along with other ticket fundraisers from this past Calgary Stampede, including Kinsmen Kars lotteries, Split’Em 50 and Grandstand 50/50, reached more than $1.4 million.
This money will be reinvested into the wide range of causes supported by the Rotary Club of Calgary South, Kinsmen Club and the Calgary Marching Show Band Association.