By Vinde Wells

vwells@oglecounty

news.com

An Oregon woman won’t soon forget this year’s Autumn on Parade festival.

Joni Willard, Oregon, won the AOP 60/40 raffle. She learned Sunday night that one of the six tickets she purchased was drawn.

“When they called I was shocked,” she said on Monday before receiving a check for $10,170. “What are the odds that one ticket from one of all of those pads of tickets sold was chosen.”

As an employee of Snyder’s Ace Hardware, Willard sold herself the winning ticket. “I thought I might as well buy my own and I knew it would help out the festival.”

She plans on donating a portion of her winnings to the KB Fund, an Oregon group that helps area residents with medical expenses. It was founded to help April Roos, a young woman who is battling cancer.

“Most of it will go into savings, but some will go to the KB Fund,” she said. “My son is in remission. They helped him so I want to pay it forward.”

This was the first year the festival offered a 60/40 raffle and sold tickets prior to the two-day event.

AOP had previously offered a 50/50 raffle

Snyder’s Ace received $50 for selling the winning ticket.

Joanne’s Total Image Salon & Spa received gift certificates for selling the most ticket books (128) prior to the weekend.

Raffle organizer Jessie Hafer said she was very pleased by this year’s participation.

“Last year’s 50/50 winner won a little over $900. The growth and support had been phenomenal,” she said. “Dave Boehle, a fellow AOP Committee member, and I thought big this year, but we were just shy of big enough. We sold out of tickets before the conclusion of the festival.

She thanked everyone who took part.

“We would like to thank everyone who purchased tickets and supported AOP,” she said. “We would also like to thank all the local businesses who participated in pre-event sales and all the volunteers who sold raffle tickets the weekend of the festival.”