The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

“And the winner is …” is one theme the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra wishes it didn’t have to reprise.

But that show must go on. The nonprofit hometown orchestra bungled a high-stakes raffle drawing on Feb. 21 — omitting precisely 89 tickets from its pool of 1,000 — so it’s going to return all tickets to the tumbler and go for an encore.

“In fairness to everyone who supported the VSO through their donations, we feel that a redrawing is the correct way to proceed,” said Betty Sue Morris, the symphony’s board chairwoman. “The person whose name was drawn on the 21st was gracious and understanding.”

That good sport is Les Wolf, a retired Vancouver businessman (son of the founder of Wolf Supply Co.) and one-time president of the Greater Vancouver Area Chamber of Commerce.

The pricey prize that Wolf agreed to forgo: a 2005 Ford Mustang LE convertible valued at $16,500. It was donated by Carolyn Propstra. Symphony marketing director Rich Brase said Wolf has kindly agreed to give up any claim to his win, so a completely proper drawing can be held.

That will happen Monday, in the sixth-floor hearing room of the Clark County Public Service Center at 1300 Franklin St. The drawing is open to the public, and the winner will be notified immediately. No more tickets are being sold. Previous ticket buyers who wanted to pull out had until Thursday at noon to withdraw their tickets for a full refund. Tickets were $25 each.

Simple mistake

There’s no great mystery behind how the effort went wrong, according to Brase. It was a plain old goof.

“We were in a last-minute rush to sell tickets. We were having a big fundraiser at our concerts on Feb. 13 and Feb. 20. It was our big push,” he said. “Somehow, we sold 89 tickets that were not put into the hopper. They were put down somewhere, here in our office. They were rubber-banded together and just misplaced.”

When the error was discovered, following the Feb. 21 drawing, the VSO contacted the Washington State Gambling Commission; its advice was to make the pool whole and redraw a winner.

“Rather than surprising them with, ‘This isn’t a problem, is it officer?’ when we do our paperwork, we did our homework,” Brase said. “Their recommendation was to redraw. Embarrassing as it is, and that felt like the right thing to do for people who paid their hard-earned money.”

Reached by phone Thursday, Wolf said he’s disappointed but not crushed.

“Nobody ever buys raffle tickets because they think they’re going to win,” he said with a laugh. “I wasn’t even at the function. I didn’t even know until somebody called me. And then they called me again and it was, ‘Wait a minute.’ ”

It’s better to redo the drawing than keep the prize under shady circumstances, Wolf said. “I wouldn’t like to win and have people say there’s something funny about this.”

“He was understanding and, obviously, not entirely happy,” Brase said. “When we explained it to him, he understood that, once in a million times, you’re going to have a problem. He handled it with great class and dignity.”

The symphony intends to make up for Wolf’s loss with season tickets “and other incentives,” Brase said.

Of course, it’s still possible that Wolf could triumph a second time — since his ticket is back in the bunch with all the others.

“It would be nice if he won again,” Brase said. “There’s no question this is a difficult situation for the symphony — a bad situation we’ve tried to make the best out of.”

Scott Hewitt: 360-735-4525 or scott.hewitt@columbian.com.

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