‘64 John Deere Lanz up for grabs in fundraising draw

Ardagh GAA continues to expand despite the decline of many sides across the county due to emigration. With growth and expansion comes fundraising and members of St Patrick’s GAA are currently in the throes of a major fundraising initiative which will include a raffle in October with a 1964 John Deere Lanz vintage tractor the star prize.

Tickets are being sold country wide and members of the club have be spotted fundraising at all the major agricultural events so far this year, including at ploughing matches and football games. Sellers will be visiting all parishes in the County over the coming weeks in search of some much needed support to boost the club’s finances, so expect to meet them soon!

“Fundraising is a very important aspect to the club,” Paddy Farrell, Chairman, St Patrick’s Finance committee explained to the Leader. “Last year we held a very successful ‘Scrap Saturday’ auction, so this year we have a 1964 John Deere vintage tractor which we will raffle off in October.

“We bought it fully restored and it bears the club’s colours green and gold. The support that we have received from the parish has been incredible to date, so while we needed to fundraise further, we didn’t want to hit the people of the parish too hard, so it was decided to purchase the tractor and sell the tickets for the raffle nationwide.”

To date, members have sold tickets from Kilkenny to Clones and Castlebar to Cavan. Tickets have also been available for purchase at ploughing matches, vintage rallies and football matches, to mention but a few.

“Anywhere there is a crowd, we will be there selling tickets for the tractor,” laughed Mr Farrell. “We are making a big effort to get as much funds as possible; the tractor itself is in pristine condition. People have been very generous to us, despite the recession, although you would know there is a recession all the same. People are great supporters of the GAA and especially of small rural clubs, so we are very grateful to all those who have supported us to date.”

Tickets cost €5 or €20 per book. The raffle will be held on October 27 next, however a venue has still to be confirmed. Check out www.winatractor.com. more details!