After a year of buildup, it was finally time to pick a winner in the giveaway of Seminole #1.

The boat, the first to come of off the assembly line of Seminole’s Blue Wave facility, was donated to the Seminole Chamber of Commerce last year.

Since then, Chamber officials have been selling tickets to raffle off the boat, with the monies raised to be split between the Chamber of Commerce and the Seminole Community Foundation for community projects.

Those who purchased tickets for a chance to win the 190 Deluxe converged at the Blue Wave facility on Saturday to see if they would be named the winner.

Members of the Seminole Chamber of Commerce were on hand dishing out free hot dogs, chips, cookies and drinks to those awaiting the announcement.

At 4 p.m., Chamber president Steve Schoaps unlocked the ticket box.

Everyone gathered around as Pam Parks of Blue Wave pulled out the winning ticket and made the announcement.

Seminole resident Donny Cofer was the lucky winner and was completely in shock as his name was called out.

Cofer is the Managing Editor for The Seminole Producer. Cofer’s wife, Shirlene, and son, Christopher, were also on hand and were as equally shocked. “I figured I had just as good of a chance as anyone,” Cofer said.

“But I really wasn’t thinking that I would win.”

Cofer explained that he waited until almost the last minute to buy his tickets.

“My wife and I had decided to go to the Kolache Festival in Prague last week,” Cofer said. “I saw the boat and Jenny Morgan selling tickets, so I decided to buy some.” Cofer purchased $100 worth of tickets. “I then pretty much forgot about it until Saturday,” he said. Cofer and his family were in Oklahoma City much of the day Saturday attending OU Law School graduation ceremonies for his sister-in-law. “We then decided to have some lunch before we headed back to town, he said. “I knew that I had to be there to cover the event for the paper, so I started to get real nervous thinking we were going to be late.”

Cofer stated that during lunch, he had somewhat of a strange feeling come over him. “I leaned over to my wife and said, ‘We need to get back to Seminole. I’m going to win that boat,’” Cofer said. “We pulled into town about 3:30, ran home and changed clothes, then headed over to Blue Wave.

“When we arrived, I started taking pictures of everything that was going on.”

Cofer stated his son won one of the door prizes, and at that point, he figured their day was over. “I told my wife that we had won what we were going to win and that our day was over,” he said. “So I got in position to get pictures as the winning ticket was being drawn, and so that I was in position to get the winner’s reaction. “Well, I obviously didn’t get that winning shot.”
 
Cofer explained how he felt when his name was called. “It was a broad range of emotions,” he said. “My first thought was ‘Did they just call my name?’

“My second thought was ‘What am I going to do with a boat?’ “My third thought was ‘O my God! I just won a boat!’”

Cofer said it was a bit surreal being on the other side of the camera. “It felt strange having my picture taken by everyone,” he said. “I guess it was just the shock of it all.”

Cofer’s wife was on the phone immediately telling family and friends about winning the boat. “She and Chris were  probably more in shock than I was,” he said.

Cofer and his family are first-time boat owners and are extremely excited and ready to get Seminole #1 on the water. “We just ironed out our schedule for this summer,” Cofer said. “I think it was awesome of Blue Wave and the Parks family to donate such a great boat. “They have done, and continue to do great things that support this community.”
 

According to Chamber Executive Director Jenny Morgan, $19,500 was raised in the drawing. “We are still doing some final checking and it could exceed that amount,” she said.