By CRAIG OTTO/Staff writer
A raffle for a new home north of Holmen to help fund former Holmen High School head wrestling coach Dave Rudrud’s dream of a separate wrestling facility at HHS is still ongoing, though organizers say they they are very short of the needed 5,000 ticket sales needed to pay off the house.
The home, which is located about three-quarters of a mile west of Highway 53 and Amsterdam Prairie Road, has been drywalled and will be painted this weekend, according to raffle organizer and 1999 HHS grad Mike Flury. Cabinets, doors and trim will be installed before April 17 and April 24 open houses, with a possible third open house tentatively set for April 10. A total of $750,000 will be needed to be raised to build the facility at the high school, which would also house the school’s gymnastics program.
The 1,253-square foot house is being built from donated labor. The home will includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a two-car garage and full basement.
“The house is worth $150,000, “Flury said. “For $20, their odds are better than any lottery.”
Tickets for the raffle are $20 each or 11 for $200. The drawing will be conducted May 1 at the home, which is located in the Holland Estates Subdivision. Ten tickets will be winners, with 10 keys placed in a fish bowl and the winner’s key opening the home.
Nine secondary prizes will also be awarded. Secondary prizes include 10 half-hour massages from Holmen Chriopractic and $50 gift-certificates to Bill’s Auto and Holmen Meat Locker.
Potential ticket buyers can see the home by turning west at Highway 53 and Amsterdam Prairie Road. The home is located at McWain Road, which is approximately three-quarters of a mile west of the aforementioned intersection, and Ducke Lane.
Tickets for the raffle are available from event sponsors. Sponsors selling tickets include Bank of Galesville, Bank of Trempealeau, First National Bank, Viking Realty, Village Cafe, Hardware Hank, Take 2 Video, Holmen Firemen’s Credit Union, Holmen Quk Stop, Holmen Meat Locker, Blue Cup Cafe, Interior Designs, Pizza Corral, the Holmen American Legion, Miller Quik Print, Drugan’s Castle Mound Country Club, Seven Bridges Bank, Ann Meyer Realty, Sherwin Williams on Highway OT, Andy’s Main Street Auto and Prudential Lovejoy Realty. Flury served as an assistant in the wrestling program from 2000-01 to 2003-04. Flury did not coach in the program in the recently-completed season because he is taking night classes to finish requirements for his degree at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
“I’m putting this much time into the project because Holmen athletics means a lot to me, but more importantly it means a lot to Dave, “Flury said. “I know as a wrestler and coach that we’ve wasted a lot of set-up time putting mats down and away each practice. I figured doing this instead would be my contribution to the program this year. Finally, I hope my two children will wrestle and be in gymnastics in high school and this room would benefit them tremendously.”
The facility, which would be located between the outer wall of the freshman gym and the service drive connecting the student and teacher parking lots, would encompass about 11,000 square feet, including more than 5,000 square feet each for wrestling and gymnastics rooms and 270 square feet for an expansion of the existing hallway that runs between the freshman gym and the weight room. The edge of the expansion would match the edge of the weight room and the edge of the existing main and freshman gyms.
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