Old Scratch and Win just the ticket for Pemberton mayor
It isn't often you're asked point-blank "Are you rich?" but eight-year-olds can get right to the point sometimes.
This was the question posed to Pemberton Mayor Elinor Warner at Tuesday's council meeting where students from the Grade 2 and 3 classes of the Signal Hill Elementary School were on a field trip.
Amid the gales of laughter Warner deftly moved along to the next question, which was something along the lines of "How old are you?"
No one said the life of a local politician was easy. But it just got a little easier for Warner.
On Saturday an old $10 Canucks Scratch and Win ticket which had been stuffed into a drawer and forgotten about suddenly turned into a $100,000 windfall for the local mayor.
"It was a great feeling," said Warner.
Though she admits she also "felt a bit daft."
Warner bought the ticket in December at the Sea to Sky Chevron Town Panty in Squamish. It's not something she normally does but because she wasn't at her regular gas station she decided to give it a whirl.
The ticket was partially scratched and then left in a drawer.
It was only when her daughter was using the computer on Saturday and pulled out the ticket that she realized it was a winning ticket.
"They say you should never throw them out," said the mayor with a knowing smile.
On Monday Warner collected her winnings in Richmond at the British Columbia Lottery Corporation office.
There she was interviewed and was taken through a series of photo and commercial shoots. She was asked to don a goalie mask and hold a hockey stick and say "Hi. I'm Elinor Warner and I won $100,000."
"It's not quite me, is it?" said Warner thinking back.
"(But) it was a lot of fun."
She said when you start thinking of all the things you could do with the money, suddenly $100,000 doesn't seem as much anymore. And so she will be putting some of the money into RRSPs as well as paying off the rest of her car.
There is still one top prize in the Canucks Scratch and Win contest. It could be in one of the tickets currently being sold at select lottery retailers throughout B.C. Then again, it could just be tucked away in a drawer waiting to be rediscovered.
