Melissa Fallis wins $35,842.50 at Eston’s Chase the Ace

By Joan Janzen

“And the winner is Melissa Fallis!” Doreen Hewitson announced as she pulled the winning ticket for Wheatland Plus 50 Club’s Chase the Ace event in Eston on October 30. Everyone in attendance clapped, cheered and smiled, but where was the winner?

One phone call and five minutes later, the winner burst through the doors, tears streaming down her face with one of her two children wrapped around her waist. “You have no idea how much I need this!” Melissa exclaimed.

Melissa Fallis from Eston was the big winner of the Eston Wheatland Plus 50 Club’s Chase to Ace event. The fundraiser came down to the final card and Melissa walked away with a cheque for $35,842.50! Photo by Joan Janzen

The progressive pot amounted to $35,842.50, which she will use to go to school to become an LPN—her dream job. The Eston community was celebrating along with Melissa, as she picked the Ace of Spades and took an Ace of Spades cupcake to go.

Melissa brushed aside her tears before having her photo taken, but it wasn’t necessary. Her tears were a beautiful expression of her heartfelt gratitude.

The Wheatland Club was equally appreciative of their fantastic response, as the progressive pot kept growing during the 52 weeks. In accordance with SGLA rules, fifty percent of the total proceeds went to the club.

Doreen Hewitson from the Wheatland Club in Eston presented Melissa Fallis with $35,842.50 for the final draw for Chase the Ace, on Wednesday night, October 30th. Photo by Joan Janzen

Bernadette served her tasty Ace of Spades cupcakes to the guests celebrating the final week of the Chase the Ace event at the Wheatland Centre. Photo by Joan Janzen

The Club executive and members could have also said, “You have no idea how much we need this.” Dave Hewitson said the club had seriously considered closing its doors as expenses continued to accumulate.

Chase the Ace organizer Doreen Hewitson had noticed a Chase the Ace event held in eastern Canada that went down to the final card. She suggested the Wheatland Club hold a similar event; little did they know it would also continue for 52 weeks.

Doreen said, “When we started Chase the Ace, we planned on holding another one beginning in November 2024. But we thought we’d have some time in between.” It didn’t work out that way.

It rarely happens that a Chase the Ace event goes down to the last card, so ticket sales went up quickly. “There was a huge amount of interest in the draw,” Dave Hewitson said. The club had to print more tickets, as they were selling like crazy on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Each weekly winner was awarded 20% of the week’s gross ticket sales revenue plus one chance to cut the deck of standard playing cards seeking the Ace of Spades. If the Ace of Spades was selected, the winner would be awarded 30% of the total accumulated gross ticket sales revenue of the current game.

Club President Lorne Johnson said the fundraiser will more than pay for the club’s utilities and expenses. In addition to Melissa’s substantial win, fifty-one weekly winners took home winnings ranging from $74.00 to $2,358.00 on Week 51.

No matter how you look at it, there were a lot of winners involved in Eston’s Chase the Ace event.