Raffle man Rossco making a difference at Palmwoods Hotel

Ross Dale, second from right, spends about eight hours at the pub every Sunday trying to find buyers willing to part with a bit of cash for the chance to win a meat tray or a voucher.

by Janine Hill

As sure as the beer is cold, you will find Ross “Rossco” Dale selling raffle tickets at the Palmwoods Hotel on a Sunday afternoon.

Rossco has been the Sunday raffle man at the pub for 10 years and has raised thousands of dollars for Sunshine Coast sporting clubs and Wishlist during that time.

His raffle ticket sales raised $12,875 last financial year to be split as 20% to each of the Nambour Hinterland AFL and Palmwoods Junior Rugby League clubs, 10% to each the Palmwoods Cricket Club, the Palmwoods Warriors Football Club and SCARS, and 30% to Wishlist, his chosen charity.

He spends about eight hours at the pub every Sunday trying to find buyers willing to part with a bit of cash for the chance to win a meat tray or a voucher.

“I’ve been involved with sporting clubs all my life. I started selling raffle tickets in Ipswich when I was about 18,” he said. “It’s just something I do. I’m not great at budgets and I’m a bit of a hot-head in meetings but I found my spot selling raffle tickets for fundraising.”

His Sunday afternoon Palmwoods Hotel routine dates began with him selling raffle tickets to benefit the Nambour Toads rugby union club, where he was a manager and is a life member.

When he finished up the club four years ago, the Palmwoods Hotel invited him to continue selling tickets to raise money for other clubs and community organisations that the pub sponsors.

A disability pensioner, he looks at selling raffle tickets as his way of supporting the community which supports him.

Rossco, a single bloke, said he did not have nearby family to visit and selling raffle tickets beat mowing the lawn on a Sunday.

“I love doing it. I like being with people. I spend six or eight hours walking up and down the stairs so it’s good exercise for me,” he said.

“If you’re doing it for long enough, you get to know the people.

“The trick is that if someone has never bought a ticket from me before, I treat them the same as someone who might buy $50 worth.

“I talk to them. You get to know them, what they do for a living, whose had a baby.

“You learn to read a room when you’ve been doing it long enough. It’s just listening.”

If Rossco does not manage to sell all of his tickets, he has been known to buy some himself and occasionally wins – but gives the meat tray away.