It’s blue, it’s a standard and it gets great gas mileage.
Even though she had to wait a couple of months to take possession Rowena Bastien couldn’t be happier with winning Cariboo GM’s first brand new car donated as the grand prize for the 2017 Dry Grad car raffle fundraiser.
“It’s standard and I love driving a standard and it’s blue, my favourite colour,” Bastien said. “I would have been happy with any colour but I’ve been lucky all around.”
The vehicle donated with the help of Hub International Barton Insurance and the 2017 Dry Committee is a 2017 Chevy Spark, standard, four-door, blue, hatchback, with a back-up camera, said sales manager Doug Peters in preparing to present the vehicle to Bastien on Wednesday with fleet manager Cathy Poole.
For the past few years Cariboo GM has donated a completely refurbished older truck for the Dry Grad fundraising raffle, but for the cost of refurbishing an older truck this year he said they were able to provide a brand new vehicle.
“Next year we will probably give away a new car again,” Peters said, adding the car raffle is for a good cause in supporting the annual Dry Grad party for high school graduates.
The Spark gets about 50 miles to the gallon which Bastien said will be great for runs to Kamloops to see her grandson.
Ironically Bastien was looking to buy a new car when she learned about the win in June.
“This saves me the trouble of deciding what car to buy,” Bastien said. “It is something I never expected. I’m pretty happy. I’m excited.”
Bastien works for the Cariboo Regional District and bought a ticket on the car from one of her co-workers to support Dry Grad, never imagining she would win.
She is the protective services manager at the CRD and ironically was in a weekend training course on emergency services when she received a text saying she had won the car.
She sent a text back saying they must have the wrong person, but was advised that yes, indeed, she had won the car.
“I held it in for about half an hour then blurted out ‘I just won a car,’” Bastien said.
She called her husband to tell him the news and he asked if she meant one of the toy cars given as prizes for answering questions correctly in the workshop.
“I said I won one of those too, but I won a real car.”
Due to complications with getting full insurance coverage because of the city’s proximity to an active wildfire, and the evacuation of Williams Lake, Bastien has had to wait almost two months to pick up her new Spark.
“I did come down and sit in it though,” Bastien said.
She said she was able to get basic, plus collision insurance this week which she felt was enough coverage to put her new Spark on the road.
She said she has a little Scottish terrier at home so her new car will have a little Scottish terrier decal on it.