Never let them see you sweat.
It's a now-familiar maxim which homebuilder extraordinaire Steve Maric seems to embrace. Plenty of sweat (and maybe a few drops of blood and the odd tear) went in to getting 39 Silverside Drive, the latest HSC Lifestyles Lottery show home, ready in time for would-be ticket-buyers to come and daydream about.
Chatting with a calm and collected Maric at the lottery launch Wednesday, you'd never know the Pritchard Farm home's final touches had been applied literally hours before guests arrived for a preview.
"We started construction in mid-April, but all the wet weather put us behind schedule," he explained. "So, we really had to put the pedal to the metal to get it finished for tonight.
"I've got to thank a lot of people -- our sub-trades for working so hard to get all the details done, and especially Qualico. Their staff, particularly Eric Vogan, really helped, from speeding up permits, to engineering, to laying the sod. We couldn't have done it without them and everyone else who helped."
Beyond a keen professionalism, the added impetus for everyone involved was that they were working for a good cause, the Health Sciences Centre's third annual HSC Lifestyles Lottery.
The show home, a sprawling bungalow condominium in Pritchard Farm Southlands Village worth over $1 million, is one of two jewels in a lottery crown that offers over 4,300 prizes, and an even better chance of winning. Odds of taking home a prize are now an impressive one in 15.
The second mega-prize is a lakefront cottage on lot 73 of Toniata's north shore at Falcon Lake, also built by Maric Homes.
Predictably, Gerald Mirecki, managing director of the HSC Lifestyles Lottery, was thrilled to be kicking off an improved fundraising effort in such a grand setting.
"The lottery, which is presented by Volunteer Enterprises, is so key to improving patient care at the hospital," Mirecki said. "Thanks to the public's (past) response, the hospital is growing in leaps and bounds in areas like research, diagnostic technology and patient care.
"Our goal is to provide quality care, and to make our patients feel as comfortable as possible knowing they're in good hands."
A portion of lottery proceeds goes to supporting programs and purchasing equipment that has a direct impact on the everyday needs of patients. At the same time, lottery revenue helps to fund innovative technology at the Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine and aquisition of diagnostic and medical equipment to aid in delivery of the highest-quality patient care.
"The fact is, we see more than 130,000 people per year in the emergency ward at HSC, perform over 32,000 surgeries and oversee in excess of 5,000 child births," Mirecki said. "We can't fund all these things on our own. Community participation is required to gain the funding we need."
Once they've have had a look at the two show homes -- Maric said the cottage at Falcon Lake is equally spectacular -- they shouldn't need a lot of convincing to buy a ticket, or three (plus the odd 50/50 add-on).
The home at 39 Silverside Drive in East St. Paul boasts a panoramic water view and a master suite with balcony overlooking the water and a spa-like ensuite with stand-alone soaker tub, spacious tile/tempered glass shower and floating vanity. Its walk-out lower level features a games area, movie theatre, wet bar and fourth bedroom.
"We're really pleased with how the home turned out," Maric said. "We had the freedom to do what we wanted, and it worked out wonderfully.
"The home was designed to fit the location, and we directed the entire living space toward the water to take advantage of the view. And as always, we turned a critical eye toward getting the finishing touches in the home just right."
In the end, it's a win-win situation, said Mirecki: ticket-buyers get the chance to win a host of extravagant prizes, while the hospital generates the funds they need to keep improving medical treatment.
"It makes such a difference to patient care," he said. "It's our primary mission. The lottery's a great thing. It's the vehicle that makes it possible for us to provide the highest level of care that we can."
Tickets are now on sale, with a bonus draw for two Winnipeg Jets season-ticket packages on Oct. 7 (purchase deadline: Sept. 27). The early-bird deadline is midnight, Nov. 3, with the Supercar draw (or $140,000 cash) taking place Nov. 17.
The final ticket sales deadline is midnight, Nov. 24, with the draw is to be held Dec. 8.
Tickets cost $100, or $250 for a three-pack. You can order tickets online, by mail or by calling 1-877-611-3251. They're also available at a number of participating outlets, including the show home, the cottage, HSC corner or general stores, The Brick, Visions and several other locations.
For more information on the HSC Lifestyles Lottery, visit www.HSCLifestylesLottery.com.
