BY BILL PHILLIPS
bill@pgdailynews.ca
Prince George is known as a last minute town.
Sometimes the last minute can pay off … big time.
That’s exactly what happened the first year the Hospice House Dream Home Lottery was held. Ron Gallo remembers it well. He didn’t win, but he sold the winning ticket. He had already been involved with the Spruce Kings Show Home and the Spruce Kings lent a lot of their expertise to Hospice when it decided to raffle a home as well. Gallo was the lottery coordinator for the first first Dream Home Lottery.
With the draw set for tomorrow (October 26), Gallo says it brings him back to the final 24 hours of the first Hospice Dream Home Lottery draw.
“I remember sitting in the garage, I was selling tickets,” he says. “There had been nobody to the house for about 15 minutes and it was three minutes to six. I was getting up to close to the garage door and start shutting down the house for the night.”
A woman pulled just as he was starting to close.
“’Am I too late, am I too late, can I take a look at the house?’ she asked,” says Gallo. “I let her go in the house and she was in there for about 10 or 15 minutes.”
She bought a ticket and left, after taking one last look at the house from outside.
“Wouldn’t you know it, the next night we make the draw … it’s her ticket that comes out of the barrel,” he says. “Less than 24 hours from the time of the draw, she rushed in to buy that ticket, and it was just something that drew her in to buy a ticket and it turned out to be the lucky ticket.”
The message is, of course, it’s not too late to get a ticket on the 2018 Hospice Dream Home.
There are less than 800 tickets remaining, online tickets have officially closed but tickets tickets will remain for sale until 5 p.m. on Friday, October 26. You can purchase your Dream Home tickets at the following locations:
- Prince George Hospice Society office (1506 Ferry Avenue)
- Hospice Dream Home (4254 Mears Court, Nechako View Subdivision)
- Superstore (11 a.m. – 6 p.m.),
- Canadian Tire (Prince George) (11 a.m. – 6 p.m.),
- 24-Hour Ticket Hotline by calling 1-866-419-7604
This year’s home is custom built by Lithium One Homes and has an appraised value of $588,500, (retail value including appliances is $602,860). The home features five bedrooms, four baths, a rec room and spacious basement, five appliances (washer, dryer, fridge, stove and dishwasher) from City Furniture, a home alarm system with 12 months of monitoring from Curtis‑Elite Security, and six months of Internet and TV services from Shaw. The rancher‑style home is situated on a corner lot in a cul‑de‑sac.
Featuring a finished basement with an entertainment area, the 3,310 sq. ft. home boasts a high-end kitchen custom built by Van Way Cabinets with sleek modern countertops by Lithium One. If you choose, a portion of the basement is set up to be a separate suite.
Lighting throughout the home is provided by McInnis Lighting and incredible finishing features from Windsor Plywood complete the appearance. Flooring throughout from Northern Tile & Stone delights in both appearance and texture and adds to the relaxed and modern theme of the home. Enjoy the view from a sundeck by Marathon. This home also sports a double garage completed by Portal Installations and tons of natural light through windows supplied by AWG Windows and Doors.
There are some dazzling unique features as well.
There is a floating door in the kitchen, which is also a work of art and cost about $5,000.
The kitchen also has an espresso bar attached, so coffee drinkers can really enjoy a good cup anytime.
The downstairs television room plays homage to Prince George’s history with a feature wall consisting of a photo of George Street, circa 1913. The photo was courtesy of the Exploration Place.
Get your ticket and wait for that phone call Friday night.
