update- 03.16.13: thanks to everyone who bought a ticket – we sold almost all of them this year! which means odin gets a puppy and you all helped support his wonderful school. thank you! we mailed everyone their ticket stubs this week, but you might not get them by the raffle drawing tonight depending on snail mail travel times. either way, the tickets have all been given to the school and if you win i’ll certainly let you know by tomorrow. thanks again! ( expect updates on the puppy soon )

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every year odin’s school has a fund raising raffle which requires the parents to sell $1,000 worth of tickets. we “buy” what we don’t sell. because kris and i are horrible salespeople, last year we didn’t sell any and “won” second prize, which was nice, but we don’t want to do that this year 🙂

because we live in a small town with a lot of other parents who are also selling tickets it’s a tough sell to “locals”. so this year, we’re asking for your help. please consider buying a ticket or two or five or ten! they’re $20 a ticket. please send me an email ( eric snowdeal org ), facebook message, twitter direct message or comment on this post with a way to contact you and i’ll let you know how to send me money. we’ll set aside tickets in your name and let you know if you win.

as an added incentive, we’re also in the market for a new malamute puppy for odin! malamute puppies are not cheap and we’ve set a goal that we’ll get the puppy if we sell at least half the raffle tickets. so if getting a chance to win a trip to belize isn’t incentive enough, THINK OF THE PUPPY FOR ODIN!

update:

it occurs to me that if you’re newer than 4 years or so around these parts that probably you don’t know that one of the reasons odin is especially excited about possibly getting a malamute puppy is because of the fact that he has a very distant memory of mauja the malamute who was part of our family for 10 years and was the most lovable, obstinate, cantankerous, loyal, bullheaded malamute ever. and we all loved him dearly. here are just a few of my favorite photos of odin and mauja.

more details on the raffle:

we need the money and tickets set aside by march 8th when we have to hand them in in time for the raffle on march 16th. again, tickets are $20 a piece.

Grand Prize
Belize—in the heart of Central america
All expenses paid trip for two to Belize, in the heart of Central America. Seven days and six night of beaches, rain forests, Mayan ruins, and exotic animals. Winner may specify time of travel
(12 months to redeem.) Or $4,000 cash.

Second Prize
Continental U.S.—Getaway for Two
Two plane tickets within the continental U.S. 4 weeks
advance notice required, $500 limit per ticket. Or $1,000 cash.

Third Prize
Vernon County—Weekend Getaway for Two
Two nights at the Nature Nooks retreat on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River,
plus dinner for two at the Driftless Café. (www.naturenooksretreat.com)

Fourth Prize
Woodcut Print
“Snowy Owls”: original Nick Wroblewski multi-color woodcut print,
framed and matted. (www.nickwroblewski.com)

Fifth Prize
Stay at home
A quilt, a book, and a tree to plant. Stay at home and plant
a tree, because the center of the world is right here!

follow this link for more details on the raffle and prizes.