People in Bigfork have seen it for about a week, in the parking lot at Flathead Bank, at Rocky Mountain Bank, and this weekend, it’ll make an appearance at the Festival for the Arts. It’s a 2008 Toyota Prius with “Win Me” written across the side.
“This is a major raffle for our 50th anniversary,” says Flathead Lakers Executive Director Robin Steinkraus, “we wanted to do something big to kick off the next 50 years.”
Flathead Lakers started up in 1958. Their mission is to protect the Flathead watershed and the Lake.
“Then we thought it would just go with our mission to go with something environmentally friendly and with low gas mileage,” says Steinkraus.
Tickets are 25-bucks a pop with proceeds to pay for the continuing education, advocacy and stewardship programs the Lakers are running.
Currently they’re part of the Critical Lands Project, involving local, state, federal, tribal and private conservation groups, is identifying areas where water quality may be affected by rapid growth of towns and housing developments. The Lakers part is generally to raise funds for water restoration or the purchase of conservation easements. They’ve also been involved in efforts to stop Coalbed Methane mining in British Columbia at the headwaters of the Flathead River, and preventing the spread of the invasive zebra mussel in Flathead Lake.
The car’s next stop is Kalispell Center Mall. The drawing will take place during the Polson Chamber of Commerce’s meeting on September 3rd. A total of 5,000 tickets are being sold, if less than 1,500 are sold by the drawing date, the Lakers will extend ticket sales for up to 3 months. Tickets are available at most banks across the Flathead Valley and in Polson.
For more information, call (406)883-1346, or go to www.flatheadlakers.org.