Former Drumheller residents Ed and Marlene Grinnell of Lethbridge were big winners in the 2016 STARS Lottery.
The couple won one of the grand prizes, the Edmonton Show home, worth $975,000. They were thrilled to learn their ticket had been picked.
“We’ve been buying STARS tickets for ten years,” said Ed Grinnell, whose son was flown by STARS. Tragically, he later succumbed to his injuries, but Grinnell is thankful STARS was there that day. “We feel very committed to STARS for the wonderful things they did for us and continue to do for the people of Alberta.”
The tickets were drawn the morning of April 14 for the grand prizes. Andrea Robertson, president and CEO of STARS, made the calls to the lucky winners Thursday morning.
“One of the best parts of our jobs is calling up the winners and telling them they’ve won a prize,” said Robertson. “This year’s lottery is extra special because we couldn’t have sold out without all of Alberta rallying together to help keep STARS in the sky.”
Ed, who is now retired, worked as a consultant for an oil company and spent a considerable part of his career in Drumheller. He told The Mail/inSide Drumheller, they were excited to learn to news.
“You should have seen Mar, she was shaking,” he chuckles.
He said the presentation will be in the near future. The STARS lottery continues to be STARS’ single largest source of funding in Alberta, helping critically ill and injured patients across the province. This was the 23rd annual STARS lottery, which has set records by selling out every year since it began.
For general information about the STARS lottery and for a complete list of winners, which will be posted on April 18, 2016, visit starslotteryalberta.ca
