Community
Lindsay Herman has never won anything in his life. That changed on Sunday when his name came up at Eastern Suburbs Tavern and he walked away with $5,000.
Herman was at his local when the grand prize draw for ILT's Great Pub Cash Giveaway was announced at 4pm across eight participating venues on October 4. He took a moment to process it.
"I've never won anything in my life! The heartbeat certainly went up when my name was drawn," he said.
He joked that he had made a lot of new friends after the draw, and had no immediate plans for the money — he would "save it for a rainy day."
The grand prize capped off a promotion that paid out $13,000 in total across nine weeks. Eight weekly winners each pocketed $1,000 between August 9 and September 27, with draws rotating through Newfield, Waikiwi, Ascot Sports Bar, Eastern Suburbs, Northern Tavern, The Ave, The Southland and Editor's Cut — the last of those joining the giveaway for the first time this year, bringing the tavern count to eight.
ILT chief executive Chris Ramsay said the promotion had done what it set out to do. "It's been wonderful to see people getting together at their local taverns and sharing in the excitement of the draws. Congratulations to all our winners, and thank you to everyone who took part."
Now in its third year, the Great Pub Cash Giveaway has handed $37,000 to local patrons across its three runs — a number that will keep climbing if ILT sticks to the calendar.
The full list of $1,000 weekly winners:
- August 9 — Newfield — John Anderson
- August 16 — Waikiwi — Nathan White
- August 23 — Ascot Sports Bar — Jan Jordan
- August 30 — Eastern Suburbs — Nickie Cameron
- September 6 — Northern Tavern — Kawana George
- September 13 — The Ave — Taylor Chilton
- September 20 — The Southland — Kevin Crowe
- September 27 — Editor's Cut — Neil Morrison
Thirteen thousand dollars, eight pubs, nine winners. Herman got the biggest slice — and apparently, a round of new mates to show for it.