NORTH ROBINSON, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—A Corvette collector from a small town in southern New York is the lucky grand prize winner of the Corvette Raffle put on by the Colonel Crawford Athletic Boosters.
Michael Sprague, 64, of Livingston Manor, bought just one $25 ticket for the Booster Club’s biggest fund-raiser of the year. Now he is the proud owner of another vintage Vette – a 1963 Corvette Stingray.
“I buy one ticket, that’s all,” said Sprague, who took possession of the iconic “Riverside Red” car with black interior and white soft top on Sunday. “But I’ve been buying them through that club every year as long as I can remember.”
Sprague and his wife, Cindy, already have three classic Chevrolet Corvettes in their garage, along with a high-performance Hellcat Dodge racer. “I’ve always owned them since I was a teenager. Me and my wife just love Corvettes.”
Sprague said when he got the phone call last week from Lindy Rachel, president of the Boosters Club, Cindy was excited to tell him she had just won $50 on a lottery ticket. “And I said, ‘That’s funny. I just won a Corvette.’”
“You had to be there. It was too funny,” he continued. “It had to sink in. It was too cool, and then I was calling everybody on the phone. I still can’t believe I won it. It’s pretty cool.”
Sprague – not the only out-of-state winner over the years – said he has been buying Corvette raffle tickets since the club’s first drawing in 2000. He always sees the advertisement in “Hemmings Motor News” magazine.
Rachel, who trailered the sports car to New York and handed over the keys, said 6,900 out of the maximum 10,000 tickets were sold this year. “The car is a nice solid-running car. You gotta’ remember these vehicles are old, but they’re all nice.”
Proceeds from the raffle and other Booster Club fund-raisers have paid for an all-weather track, field house, scoreboard, weight room, concession stand at the softball field, and other school projects over the years.