Swift Current resident wins big prize at casino's 10th anniversary celebration
The start of the new year had an extra $50,000 shine for a Swift Current resident who won the big prize in the Power of 10 draw during the Living Sky Casino's 10th anniversary celebration.
The official celebration of the casino's 10 years in Swift Current took place on Dec. 28 and a number of activities were held during the evening to highlight this milestone.
Glen Reimer was among the five finalists in the draw who picked an envelope and opened it to see the big number inside.
“It really hasn't soaked in yet,” he said afterwards. “It is really something to win that much money in one time, it really is.”
His mind just went blank when he opened the envelope and realized he was the grand prize winner.
“I can't believe that,” he said. “I've never seen that, a win like that.”
After all the excitement he was not sure how he was going to use the money.
“I'm really quite thrilled and I'll be probably more thrilled tomorrow than I am tonight, because I didn't really expect to win this, the big one,” he said.
He was going to think a bit more about what to do with the money and he was also going to discuss it with his wife.
“She didn't think I'll get this far and I didn't think so either,” he said. “So here we are. We got lucky.”
He mentioned that they might use some of the money for a trip, and perhaps also to buy furniture for their condo. They have just recently moved into a condo in Swift Current after previously living on their farm in the Success area.
The Power of 10 draw was the most anticipated event of the evening, with $100,000 in prize money up for grabs by the 100 semi-finalists.
They gathered in the event centre for the draw, and five lucky participants drew a note indicating they have made it to final draw.
Each of the remaining 95 semifinalists also won a prize.
There were 50 prizes of $100 free slot play, 30 prizes of $250 cash, and 15 prizes of $500 cash.
The Power of 10 final draw took place on the casino floor's lounge stage. Each of the five finalists picked an envelope and then opened their envelopes at the same time to reveal their prize money.
Reimer won the big prize of $50,000. The other prize winners are Mel Knockaert ($15,000), Veena Hockridge ($$7,500), Beth de la Cruz ($5,000) and Martha Radiuk ($2,500).
Two unique items were unveiled during the evening to highlight the casino's 10th anniversary celebration.
MEEP Creative, a Yorkton based design studio, built a large LEGO model of the casino building for the event. This model is on display inside the casino and someone was eligible to win a $500 prize by guessing the number of LEGO pieces that were used to create it.
The second unveiling of the evening was a three-dimensional cake of the casino that was created by awardwinning Las Vegas cake designer Rick Reichart of cakelava, a custom wedding cake and birthday cake studio.
He spent a week at the casino and it took about 80 hours to create the custom cake. He also provided three other cakes for the occasion that were cut and enjoyed by casino patrons who attended the anniversary event.