Many thanks to everybody who pitched in for our bare bones 2016 email blast fundraiser! We continue to be overwhelmed by your generosity, particularly in helping out for our first PayPal-only fundraising “event” when even the sales pitch isn’t very exciting. Thanks to you, in let’s say “a few short days during the hectic holiday season” (actually, nearly all the money came in the last 15 hours of the year, due to the timing of the big email blast), we pulled in more than enough to fund the 2016 scholarship and keep the momentum going as we head into 2017, a year that will see very big changes for our fundraising methods. More on that later, watch this space!

Again, many thanks to the donors who pitched in. We couldn’t do this without you all! THANKS EVERYBODY!

We’ve got big plans for something very new for 2017, but we haven’t had an official fundraiser for 2016 yet (the raffle was actually 2015’s fundraiser, despite the date of the drawing). As such, with little fanfare, but a couple email blasts, we’re requesting PayPal donations to keep the lights on at Clambake Society Scholarship international headquarters. Or maybe to keep our savings from shrinking while we keep giving out scholarships to deserving and awesome Rhinelander High School graduates. We may not actually own any light bulbs, sockets, wiring, or an office to use them in, but we do have a fantastic PayPal link on our fabulous “Donate” page, so please head over there if you want to pitch in for 2016. Donations are tax deductible, and receipts will be emailed to donors in January.

Congratulations to Marie Sandstrom*, winner of the 2016 Clambake Society Scholarship!

Once again, the patterns in applications were hard to ignore. All but one person chose Column B, no one took the easy option of comparing and contrasting “Fargo vs Fargo“, and a reader could be left with the distinct impression that haiku is an ancient Japanese art of describing sporting events. Several of the applications were very good, but Marie’s stood out above all the rest. All her answers were excellent, and painted a clear picture of someone both intriguing and full of intrigue. Marie, here’s hoping your answers to the last two questions don’t come true, because both Rhinelander and your country need you.

Thanks again to everybody!

Yes, this post was backdated, but backdated from when? The mystery shall never be revealed!
* Many apologies, we had the name wrong on this site for months. Our internal winner announcement went out with “Maria” on it, and we made the mistake of copying from that email rather than going back to the source. Congratulations, MARIE!

Congratulations to Jake and Polly Mangerson, winners of the big $3500 vacation package in the Clambake Society Scholarship 2015-2016 fundraising raffle!

In the public drawing held last night in front of a small group at The Haven in Rhinelander, Jake and Polly’s ticket was selected first, followed by AJ Johnson and Steve Richardson. Jake and Polly receive the grand prize, while AJ and Steve will respectively receive the 2nd and 3rd prize autographed photos.

We could hardly be more thrilled by the public response, and we can’t thank you all enough for your part in helping us give back to the Rhinelander community! Now, on to the process of making our 10th annual scholarship selection. Tenth annual! Eleventh winner, because in 2012 we gave out two!

Thanks again, everybody!

The Clambake Society Scholarship will be raising funds to provide scholarships to graduates of Rhinelander High School. Buy a raffle ticket now for only $100 and have a chance at winning the grand prize of a luxury vacation. No more than one hundred raffle tickets will be sold.

Grand Prize * – Winner will choose one vacation package for two to either:

1) Six days, five nights at the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Round trip air fare, airport transfer included.

2) Seven day cruise on the Norwegian Spirit. Round trip air fare to Orlando; Port of Orlando departure and arrival. Balcony room for two. Stops are Nassau Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

3) Ski Vacation in Vail, Colorado at the Austria Haus. Includes round trip air fare and rental car.

Winner will work with Escape With Us Vacations to coordinate planning of trip. Estimated value of trip is $3,500.

Other prizes awarded will include **:
1) Autographed 8″ x 10″ print of Minnesota Twins retired player, coach, and Spanish broadcaster Tony Oliva. Courtesy of the Minnesota Twins.
2) Autographed 8″ x 10″ photograph of Minnesota Vikings receiver and guaranteed*** all-time kickoff return record-holder Cordarrelle Patterson. Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings.

The raffle drawing will take place on Saturday, March 5****, 2016, at 6:00pm at The Haven in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. You do not need to be present to win. For information on how to purchase tickets, e-mail The Clambake Society Scholarship at fundraiser@clambakesociety.org.

Wisconsin Raffle Licence: R0034312A-14165

* Winner will work with Escape With Us Vacations to coordinate planning of trip. Form of the award is a travel voucher for $3500; the above trips are examples of trips offered by Escape With Us vacations and are subject to availability. Prices of trips can fluctuate depending on time if year, number of people traveling, and advanced booking. The Clambake Society Scholarship guarantees a travel award value of $3500.
** For anyone wondering why a scholarship for Rhinelander students is giving away merchandise from Minnesota sports teams and not Wisconsin ones, there’s a great, long, convoluted reason for it. Come to any of our public events and we’d love to explain it in person. We effusively thank the Vikings and Twins organizations for their generous donations.
*** Unless the NFL ever makes the field longer or the end zones deeper.
**** UPDATE: This page, and the tickets, originally read “Saturday, March 6th”, which isn’t a real thing. For anyone who wants to attend the drawing, we’re also contacting ticketholders by phone and/or email. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.