SASKATOON – You pay your money, you take your chances.
And if you’re entering Edward and Suzan Yawney’s literary lottery, you also sit down to write a 300-word essay.
The winner of the Kamloops couple’s contest will lay claim to their two-bedroom lakeside home, situated on one acre of tree-lined waterfront property in the B.C. Interior.
The Yawneys bought their second home for their retirement three years ago when the real estate market was hot. But retirement crept up too quickly, and maintaining the waterfront home and a 12-acre farm has become difficult.
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“We can’t hang on to both, so we decided to do something a little creative,” Suzan said. The idea was planted in Suzan’s head after watching an Oprah Winfrey show featuring a guest who raffled off his southern U.S. inn to get rid of its high debt load.
The Kamloops couple’s contest calls for contestants to submit a $100 entry fee and an essay explaining why they want to win the property.
The couple will short list about 200 entries, and then submit them to a team of Kamloops’ University College of the Caribou professors to make the final decision.
The professors will judge entries based on originality, style, creativity, grammar and literacy skill. Suzan and Ed, an English major and 35-year school administrator, won’t be quite as structured when they sit down to short list.
“There are some rules but we’ll be judging by matters of the heart,” Suzan said, “like the unique reasons why people might want to have this property and how they would appreciate it.”
The contest might draw a special appeal from prairie farmers, she said.
“Some farmers might want to retire from the Prairies to B.C.,” she said, “and here they can live on a lake and go fishing.”
Apricot, peach and apple trees cover the property near Savona, about 30 km northeast of Kamloops, Suzan added.
But if a farmer wins and wants to sell the property to keep his farm afloat, Suzan said the entry will get equal consideration.
“We need our farmers,” she said, “and maybe if a young farmer won they could sell the property and be able to keep the farm going.”
Pressures faced
The Yawneys raise Clydesdales on a 12-acre farm near Kamloops and say they can understand the pressure prairie producers are under.
So far they’ve collected 48 entries and received “hundreds” of calls about the contest.
The pair hired a lawyer to sort out the legalities.
There must be a minimum of 1,700 entries for the contest to take place, otherwise all money and entries will be returned.
The deadline for entries is Jan. 31, with the draw taking place Feb. 14.
The thought of handing over their lakefront property hasn’t dampened the Yawney’s retirement plans, Suzan said.
“Now we’re talking about jumping into a motor home and taking six months to tour through the Prairies,” she said. “We like to take the back roads and talk to the people.”
Entries can be mailed to Lakeshore Contest in Trust, Box 156, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 5K6. For information call 1-250-314-0400.
