The Jasper Strassenfest Committee announced on Monday evening that a winner has come forward to claim the Half Pot Prize. After confirmation that the ticket was valid, Steve Brenner of Evansville and his wife Dana met with committee members at the Jasper Chamber of Commerce to claim the $70,555 prize. A photo of the Brenners and a short story about their winning experience was included in an announcement posted to the Jasper Strassenfest Facebook page.
In its inaugural year, the pot total reached $141,110. A large portion of the proceeds will benefit the Vincennes University Jasper Scholastic Excellence Scholarship Fund to benefit local students. The scholarship includes tuition, a laptop, and a $500 book stipend. More information on the number of students impacted will be known at a later date. The winning ticket draw took place on Wednesday, August 11th at the Jasper Train Depot after some brief words from Jasper Strassenfest Committee Chair Bob Bleemel, Half Pot ChairKim Lottes, and VU Jasper Vice President and Dean Christian Blome.
Half Pot Winner, Steve Brenner, said he was shocked to see that he held the winning number when comparing his ticket to the number on the Jasper Strassenfest Half Pot website late last week. He purchased the ticket from the Half Pot booth when it was located at the Southgate Shopping Center. Steve is a truck driver and his route takes him to Jasper every weekday. He pulled into the lot after the booth caught his eye, stating that he liked that his purchase would be benefitting a good cause. After purchasing his ticket he discovered that the drawing was to take place on his wife Dana’s birthday. While he joked with her that he had purchased her birthday present, neither imagined that that present would include this amount of money.
The Jasper Strassenfest Committee plans to hold the Half Pot event once again next year with ticket sales taking place prior to the festival August 4-7, 2022. Details will be posted closer to the event on the Half Pot web page, jasperstrassenfest.org/halfpot.
