Sierra Sullivan, Matt Yeager and Sheila Barto enjoy pulling names from the raffle box of winners for prizes given away on Weds. night, Dec. 8 at 'Not Just A Bean.'

HUGHESVILLE – A Mazda car, jewelry, clothing, toys, flowers, art prints, and hundreds of dollars worth of gift certificates from area merchants were given away at a raffle held at the coffee shop, Not Just a Bean, on 24 N. Main St. last Wednesday evening.

Despite the inclement weather, several folks turned out to see if their ‘5 to Drive Holiday Giveaway’ ticket would be the winner for the grand prize – a silver Mazda Protege, compliments of Murray Motors.

Over 200 people participated in the drawing according to Suzanne Holmes, the main organizer for the event. After seeing the large attendance for the Hughesville Halloween parade and such a low turnout for last year’s Christmas parade, Holmes wanted to try something different to get more people to come to downtown Hughesville to shop during the Christmas holiday season.

With the combined efforts of the Hughesville Rotary and the Greater Hughesville Business Association, Holmes approached area merchants in the community to see if they could donate a prize to go towards the final drawing. 20 stores agreed to pitch in and tickets were designed by local artist, Robin Fry.

“It was a great way to get the people to come here and not at the mall,” Holmes said. All they had to do was go to five of the 20 stores and get their tickets stamped. All stamped tickets were placed in a large box for validation at Doug Spotts Appliance store to be drawn for one of 35 prizes on Dec. 8. Shoppers had 4 days, from Dec. 2 to Dec. 5 to finish shopping at the participating merchants. “It was neat to see all the people bustling around the streets holding their tickets during those 4 days,” added Holmes. “I think the merchants had a blast too.” Many had additional incentives and special deals in their stores such as silent auctions, cookies and treats to munch on, and some of the businesses extended their hours.

Next year the committee would like to do it again and coincide it with Black Friday and the tree lighting ceremony. “They will have 8 days and I think Murray Motors is working on a nice surprise too,” said Holmes who is also a member of the Rotary and the Greater Hughesville Business Association.

Prize winners:

Raymond Falls and Jessica Wright each won a $20 gift certificate to TJ’s Market. Cindy Walters and Michael Istre from Picture Rocks won a $20 gift certificate to Metamorphosis. Kimberly Laurenson from Muncy Valley and Bill Williams won a Fed Ex model car.

Jennifer Hammitt received a gift certificate from Kathy’s Cafe and Effie Butler received homemade cookies, while Joanne Fogelman won a t-shirt from Kathy’s Cafe. Micki Oliver won a bracelet and Becky Gordner got a necklace from Sheila Barto’s Jewelry and Gifts. Donna Mottes and Chris Gordner received gift certificates from Classic Impressions. Tessa Sherwood, Marie Mercer and Leroy Bennett from Pennsdale each won prizes from Discovery Toys. Kristen Daugherty and Connie Dinkler won meals at Butler’s Eatery and Kathy Reitz received a sweatshirt from Sullivan’s Gulf Service.

Jessica Wright also won a $25 gift certificate to the Spartan Pub along with Karen Yaw from Hughesville. 1 doz. bagels with cream cheese were won by Christy DiLella at Not Just A Bean. There were 2 winners for $25 gift certificates at Womer’s Tag Service, Patty Lundy and Linda Neupauer. Shane McCoy won 2 gallons of interior paint from Ace Hardware.

Other winners include Rachel Stiger who won a sweatshirt from Susquehanna Valley Sports and Sonya Johnson from Hughesville won $50 to J&G Gem Repair.

Bethany Hamm won a kitchen gift basket and Eric McClintock won Robin Fry’s art print professionally framed by Heritage Framing in Hughesville. Jr and Cheryl Charles and Deb Woodside from Muncy won Shop-Vacs, and Keith Steimling won a stainless steel griddle.

Sherri’s House of Flowers contributed 6 months worth of floral bouquets won by Eleanor Dauberman, and Chris Shaner won a new 19″ Dell monitor. Kathrine Hess won a chest freezer from Doug Spotts.

Donna’s Gifts and Gallery gave away $50 worth of merchandise that was won by Carol Sponnenburg who was also the grand prize winner for the 2000 Mazda Protege. Everyone was eligible to win the car.