Motorcycle the prize in charity event

By Beverly Harvey

Published: May 10, 2008

Would you like the chance to buy a brand-new Harley-Davidson motorcycle for just $100 while also supporting a good cause?
The first 500 people to purchase a ticket for the 2008 Big Swamp Harley-Davidson Give-A-Way will get the chance to take home a 2008 black Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic worth $18,800.
The reverse-draw contest will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at Big Swamp Harley-Davidson in Opelika. The last number drawn is the winner of the motorcycle. Tickets will be sold up to an hour before the drawing
begins.
Event T-shirts will also be sold Saturday for $10 each.
Proceeds from the Big Swamp Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic giveaway and T-shirt sales will go to the Lee County Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The annual event, now in its third year, is one of the biggest fundraisers for the Lee County Chapter of the American Red Cross chapter, Executive Director Jennifer Ryan said.
Last year, the event raised $35,000. “That’s a pretty big deal for our chapter,” Ryan said.
Tickets can be purchased with cash or check at Big Swamp Harley-Davidson at 1201 Fox Run Parkway, or with credit card or debit card online at http://www.leeredcross.org. You must be at least 21 to purchase a ticket.
You don’t have to be present to win the motorcycle, And you don’t have to purchase a ticket to attend the giveaway event.
“People who couldn’t afford to buy a ticket turnout just for the excitement,” said Big Swamp Harley-Davidson General Manager Katrina Pennington, whose family owns Big Swamp and its sister store, Chattahoochee Harley-Davidson in Columbus, Ga.
Previous winners of the Big Swamp Harley-Davidson giveaway have had rather interesting stories behind the reasons why they chose to enter the reverse-draw contest.
The 2006 winner, Walden Bass of Montgomery, bought a ticket to replace his Kawasaki motorcycle that was stolen the previous year.
In 2007, winner Kathryn Guthrie of Opelika entered the giveaway in order to sell the two-wheeled prize to help finance the adoption of a child, Pennington said.

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