Tribune reporter wins grand prize

Rotary Club of Saipan president Ivan Ilmov spins a container of tickets for the grand prize during the Las Vegas Night event held at the Saipan World Resort on Nov. 5, 2016. (Michael T. Santos)

Holding winning ticket number 08572, Saipan Tribune senior reporter Ferdinand de la Torre won the grand prize of either a 2016 Mazda 3 or $10,000 during Rotary Club of Saipan’s annual Las Vegas Night held at the Saipan World Resort last Saturday.

He was not present to receive the prize in person but since a winner does not have to be there to claim the Top 5 prizes, his winnings were not forfeited.

“I am so thankful to God for this early Christmas blessing. I have been buying Rotary tickets for more than a decade now because of their good community projects,” said de la Torre.

“This time I bought three booklets. While the event was taking place, I was just waiting for a call in case I got any of the prizes. Later in the evening, a co-worker called me to say that I had won but I thought he was joking. I started receiving more texts and calls from my co-workers and friends but it was still hard to believe at the time,” de la Torre said.

As of right now, de la Torre is still weighing whether he will get the money or opt for the brand new car.

Rotary Club president Ivan Ilmov said, “The Rotary Club of Saipan has been doing the Las Vegas Night event for the last 44 years and we are so happy with the community. Despite not having a casino on island before, people would still come over and support us because all the money we earn from this night goes back to them.”

“With the money we earned tonight, we will be supporting the Million Dollar Scholars for Kagman, renovate the playground that was damaged by the typhoon at the American Memorial Park, and finish several projects in Kagman that we have been planning for awhile now,” Ilmov said.

Other winners of the night include L.D. Pangelinan (ticket No. 04142) with $3,000, Amanda Delagan (06261) with $2,000, Sadiri B. Martin (04025) with $1,000, and Ruth Pangelinan (13074) with $500.

The event opened its doors at 7pm and ended around 12am. During the Las Vegas Night, several games such as Black Jack and Bingo were held for the attendees, with refreshments available on site.

The Rotary Club would like to thank everyone who purchased tickets, those who attended the event, all volunteers, Rotarians who stayed on site the whole night, friends of the Rotary who helped organize the event, Best Sunshine International, Ltd. who donated dealers to allow the program to run more smoothly, and Saipan World Resort for allowing the use of their Taga Hall.