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Rudy King (left) is all smiles as he shows off the prizes he won Saturday at the Kiwanis Crazy Cash Night. King said he gave away most of the items to his daughter and son-in-law, Christine and Joseph Tomassi of Manchester, seen with him. King also split the top cash prize of $6,000 with three other ticketholders.
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About 400 people braved a snowy, blustery night Saturday, opening their wallets and their hearts to help the Kiwanis Club help the community.
The eighth Crazy Cash Night was deemed a rousing success by many, not least the one lucky person who walked away from the American Legion hall with every major prize of the evening.
Rudy King, who moved to Manchester last summer from Dearborn, played the odds and won all of the top prizes, a flat-screen television, desktop computer, laptop computer and digital camera.
Not only that, King and three other ticketholders split the top cash prizes of $5,000 and $1,000.
The unprecedented results caught Kiwanis members by surprise.
"It's the first time one person has won all four prizes on the prize boards and the cash prizes," said Kiwanis member and Manchester Village President Pat Vailliencourt.
"The man was wonderful. He was there to support the community. We were cheering for him because he had invested a lot."
For his part, King seemed to be humbled by all the attention.
"I don't know, I'm kind of lucky, I guess," he said. "Like I told my son-in-law, 'What the heck, it's good for the community.'"
King couldn't say for sure how much money he spent, but he wasn't doing it for the prizes anyway.
"My son-in-law kept telling me to slow down and not bid so much," he said. "I have no idea how much I spent, but I know it wasn't anywhere near what the prizes were worth."
He split the cash prize with Jeff and Tammy Elliott, Richard Clark and Ray Kimmel.
"I didn't know any of those other folks," King said. "We all agreed to the split, so we all ended up with $1,500."
Regardless of King's extraordinary good fortune, the biggest winners were the many Manchester community organizations that stand to benefit financially from the evening's activities.
With the proceeds of Crazy Cash Night, the Kiwanis Club makes grants of several hundred to several thousand dollars for community projects.
Those organizations include various Manchester school and youth groups, the Barn Raisers, the Community Resource Center and the Manchester Community Fair.
"This is our eighth year and we've averaged probably $15,000 to $18,000 a year," said Bill Schwab, a Kiwanis member for 13 years.
"Most of this helps the children," said Kiwanis treasurer Bonnie Hertler. "Last year, we had about the same amount."
Most of the money raised came not from the $100-per-couple price of admission, but from continuous sales of tickets for a seemingly endless variety of games of chance: raffles, cash and prize boards, and auctions of prizes and unsold tickets.
"If someone was to buy a ticket on each one of these, you could conceivably have 185 chances to win," Schwab said.
That's how King was able to claim so many prizes. He waited until near the end of the night, when a relatively small number of remaining tickets were auctioned off and his chances of winning were vastly improved.
"When it's down to the last five or six balls, that's when they auction off the last two numbers so you have a very good chance of winning," said Kiwanis member Sharon Jones.
The games began at 8 p.m., following a dinner catered by Dan's River Grill and musical entertainment by the 23-member Manchester High School Jazz Band.
To choose the winners, numbered balls corresponding to the 200 admission tickets were drawn from a "bubbler," an air-driven device that stirred the balls to assure random selection.
People were enjoying the party, whether they'd been to them all or had never been.
"It's a fun night for a great cause," said Julie Manders. "I come every year."
Sitting beside her were first-timers Mike and Shannon Brown.
"This is fabulous," said Shannon Brown. "There's so much going on. It's really exciting."
Manchester resident Jack Gould hadn't had his number called by 9 p.m., but kept a positive attitude.
"So far, so good; I'm still in it," he said. "But we're already winners — this is good for the community, and it's fun."
The event drew people from outside the immediate Manchester area, as well.
"This is a fantastic event, and a great thing for the community," said Joe Yekulis of Chelsea, who said he has attended for about four years.
"What makes Manchester such a great community is its closeness," he added. "What I enjoy more than anything is that spirit of community."
King is retired from DaimlerChrysler AG, and moved to Manchester in August to live with his daughter and son-in-law, Christine and Joseph Tomassi, who themselves have lived in the area only about a year.
King said he would test his run of luck by buying tickets for the multi-state Lotto jackpot that is reaching stratospheric proportions.
"I bought $100 worth of easy picks for the $355 million lottery drawing tonight," he said Tuesday.
"A lot of the people I talk to can't believe it; I must be doing something right."
Edward Freundl is a reporter for Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at 428-8173 or efreundl@heritage.com.
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