Cape Breton lottery win comes up ace (and spades) for woman
Thousands were drawn to small Nova Scotian town, hoping to hit $1.7M jackpot
INVERNESS, N.S.— A game of Chase the Ace that has lasted almost a year in a small Cape Breton town finally produced a winner on Saturday, making a retired Nova Scotia woman a millionaire.
Donelda MacAskill, 62, of Englishtown, N.S., picked up the ace from three face-down cards on a table in the arena where the draw was held and won the $1.7-million jackpot.
MacAskill, who used to run a tour boat company but is now retired, was shaking when she pulled the card from the table in front of about 2,500 people. When she spotted the ace of spades, she promptly dropped the card — and a deafening roar erupted in the crowd.
Chase the Ace is similar to a 50-50 draw with $5 tickets, but there’s a twist. Instead of getting half the ticket sales, the winner gets 20 per cent. Another 30 per cent is added to a growing pot that can be won if the ticket holder draws the ace of spades from a deck of cards.
MacAskill said she was heading home from one of the ticket-selling venues on the north end of town when she realized her ticket had been called.
But the road to the arena, where the draw was held, was blocked with cars.
“I had to leave the car and run, and I don’t run well,” she said.
She said she had no firm plans for how she and her husband, John, will spend the money, but indicated the winnings would help, as John has been undergoing treatment for cancer.
MacAskill, who had been coming to the weekly draws since August, said she bought $125 in tickets in total. Her husband was at home when she drew the ace of spades. She used a cellphone to give him the good news just before she was surrounded by reporters and camera operators.
“You don’t play with the thought of winning,” she said when asked what she planned to do next. “I really didn’t think I was going to win. That’s why I was on the side of the road, ready to head for home.”
As for the event in Inverness, she said: “I did enjoy it. It’s like a carnival atmosphere.”
Thousands of cars lined the streets of Inverness earlier Saturday, where people headed to one of three venues selling tickets for a jackpot
There were long queues at the Royal Canadian Legion, the local hockey arena and an outdoor concert venue known as Broad Cove as the grey sky occasionally opened up to offer a heavy downpour.
Inside the arena, a local rock band performed before former premier Rodney MacDonald took the stage, fiddle in hand, to entertain more than 1,000 people with traditional jigs and reels.
Many ticket holders could be seen signing their names on stacks of colourful tickets, while others simply sat with their neighbours and gabbed as the music played on.
Jacqueline Pygiel from Sambro, N.S., said she has been coming to Inverness every Saturday for the past five weeks.
“Inverness has been doing such a great job,” said Pygiel, sitting with a few friends on lawn chairs at the arena waiting for the draw to start.
She said the allure of big money is powerful, but she said the people of Inverness have been happy to see so many strangers.