Glen Vienneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 18/00) - Who says number 13 is unlucky?

Not Rita Horne of Yellowknife. After all, she walked away $10,000 richer when she won the Royal Canadian Legion's Aug. 13 bingo jackpot where she was quickly crowned the first grand prize winner in the game's 13th week of existence.

"It is all luck," admitted Horne, who was still pretty shaky on Wednesday when she was presented with the prize by Glen Clouston, president of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch No. 164.

This is by far the biggest winning prize for Horne, who works as a purchasing officer with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

Although she has played bingo for the past 10 years when she had extra spending money, it was at the last minute that she decided to try her luck on Sunday's game.

"I told my husband that I didn't feel like cleaning up and I think that I'll go to the bingo. He said, 'Well it starts in 45 minutes, so you better get a move on.'

"They have already started to call numbers when I got there, I guess it was the right time."

Before the week ended, Horne had already made plans on how to spend some of that money, including her biggest priority: paying some bills.

"I can honestly say I don't owe Visa anything," she said.

Horne also plans on flying to Hinton, Alta., to see her new grandchild at the end of this month.

The Legion came up with the idea to boost the prize to $10,000 13 weeks ago to try and draw more people to the games. The bingo normally draws about 150 eager players.

Previously, the bingo prize was set at $1,500 and progressed up to $3,000.

"We could have lost our shirts that first weekend," reflected Lorne Power, Legion manager.

Sixty per cent of the profits made from the bingos will be shared among the non-profit organizations that take part, said Clouston, adding, it was a decision that is quickly proving to "help everybody all the way around."

Some of the groups who are benefiting include the Stanton Regional Hospital, the 2837 Royal Canadian Army Cadets and various sports organizations.

Forty per cent of the profits are going towards operational cost of the Legion building, as well as repairs and renovations. The Legion's lounge is also undergoing renovations which are expected to be completed this fall.

The branch also supports Legion programs across the country.