A drawing was held Wednesday night near Whiteman AFB to determine the winner of a brand new car.

Clinton Mayor Greg Lowe was the grand prize winner of a car valued at $20,000 after his ticket was drawn Wednesday night at the Royal Oaks Golf Course Clubhouse near Whiteman Air Force Base.

Karl Kramer, communications director for McCarthy Autogroup and first vice chair for the Whiteman Base Community Council Board, explained the purpose of the raffle.

"The intent here is to support those (Whiteman) Airmen families -- one, with events on base, and for events that provide opportunities to back out into the communities," he said. "It's the first time we've done a vehicle giveaway, so we're going to have two happy folks. One will win a $20,000 car and then we'll have nearly $16,000 going into the Base Community Council Fund."

BCC President Greg Frencken twirled the cylindrical basket containing the tickets thoroughly, then asked Erik Asuma, recreation assistant at the Royal Oaks Golf Course, to pick the winner, which he did.

A total of 18 communities make up the BCC, and Kramer noted that the annual economic impact of Whiteman on those 18 communities is nearly $700 million.

A dozen area car dealerships supported the project, each donating a $1,000 sponsorship. And the Sedalia Democrat printed 3,000 tickets or the raffle at no charge to the BCC, Kramer said.

With the success of this year’s event, Kramer said there’s a possibility there will be another one next year.

"We're going to learn from this and see if it's something the board wants to do again," Kramer said. "It was great to have the partnership from the communities and the execution from all the board members to go out and sell tickets. We may offspring into something else, or their may be a second annual."

A list of the dealerships include: Bill Bunch, Bryant Motors, Lotspeich Motors, Marshall Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge, McCarthy Blue Springs Hundai, McCarthy Chevrolet-Buick, GMC, McCarthy Toyota Sedalia, McCarthy Chevrolet Lee's Summit, Rick Ball Ford-Lincoln, W-K Chevrolet-GMC-Cadillac, Warrensburg Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge and Warrensburg Ford.

In the lead photo: Base Community Council President Greg Frencken speaks with Greg Lowe, the winner of the Whiteman BCC raffle, by phone Wednesday evening at the Royal Oaks Golf Course near Whiteman AFB. Lowe won a $20,000 vehicle.

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