Kinsmen Home Lottery hands over keys to winning family
Todd Marien buys tickets to the Kinsmen Home Lottery every year, but never expects to win anything.
He said he buys them to be able to give back and support the community. This year, Marien and his family hadn’t even seen what the grand prize show home looked like.
So when he got the call, at his son’s graduation, informing him that he had actually won the grand prize home, it was pretty exciting, he said. “They were phoning nonstop and I was hitting decline on my phone, and I got a text from my business partner that said ‘You should phone them,’ ” he said.
The grand prize also included $50,000 cash.
Other prizes included a 50/50 add-on, the winner taking $182,947.50 of the total $365,895 jackpot, and the choice of a Porsche Boxster or $70,000 cash as the early bird prize. The proceeds from ticket sales go to the Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon, which then helps support community initiatives.
Lorie Houle, her husband Trevor, Linette Plant, and Mike Wyshynski, the 50/50 winners, have also been buying tickets for years, and always purchase them together.
“When I phoned to tell these three, they really didn’t believe me,” Houle said.
With their winnings, they plan to finish the cabin they built together.
For the Marien family, Todd said it’s too early to decide what their plans are but they could see definitely themselves living in the grand prize home.
“We walk around and we see places like, ‘Oh your hockey equipment could go here, this could go here, we could do this here.’ You do envision yourself living in it,” Jessica Marien said.