TRENTON, N.S. – It was a Sunday, but her news couldn’t wait until Monday. So, Darlene Dewtie called her boss to give her two-week’s notice that she’s retiring from Sobeys.
Fate – or chance – has dealt her a good card. On Aug. 18, Dewtie won $578,920 from the Trenton Chase the Ace, which was a fundraiser for the Trenton Legion and Trenton Fire Department. The ace was drawn on Week 50 of the game.
Dewtie, has played just two weeks of the game and purchased her winning ticket in advance from the Cross Roads Country Market. She was watching the draw unfold live using her tablet at her Sutherland’s River home when she saw her ticket was drawn.
“We just won!” she told her husband. Moments later the phone rang to confirm it.
Still, she feels a sense of disbelief about her good fortune.
Dewtie has worked at the deli meat counter at Sobeys in New Glasgow for close to 30 years – first at the Westside Sobeys and most recently at the Aberdeen outlet. Despite her long tenure, she said it wasn’t an easy call to make to give her notice.
“It was mixed emotions,” she said. “It was excitement because I’m retiring, and it was sad because I’m leaving a company that's been so good to me for so long.”
Other than the retirement, she hasn’t had a chance to decide what she’ll do with her winnings.
“I still can’t believe it,” she says.
Steve Cotter, co-organizer of the Trenton Chase the Ace, said it’s been an unbelievable success, as was seen by the huge turnout on Sunday. Both the Trenton rink and Legion were full of people waiting for the draw to happen.
“It was really exciting,” Cotter said.
The money raised from the fundraiser is a big boost for the two non-profits.
“I know the legion has a wish list and the fire department has one too. A lot of those wishes that were dreams up to three years ago have become reality,” Cotter said, referencing when they began holding Chase the Ace games.
This most recent game has been by far the most successful. Cotter offered thanks to their vendors who sold tickets and to the people both county-wide and from away that bought tickets and helped make the event a success.
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