Another March Madness tournament has ended, with history being made by the Connecticut Huskies, winning back-to-back years, and cutting down the nets as National Champions after their big victory over Purdue on April 8th! Many of us chose Connecticut to win it all, but our brackets stumbled along the way with losses in the earlier games. Therefore, our points were not high enough to claim the top three prizes. So … our top winner of the 75 brackets, receiving a check for $160, earning the most points after the championship game, is Eileen Kludt, with 140 points. Larry Stoppel won the 2nd place prize, and a $115 check, with 139 points, and Ed Frey was awarded third place with 138 points; he receives a $75 check. Then, at our April 10th Rotary meeting, we drew the three $50 winners from the non-winning brackets and ….. drum roll please …. Madison Riemenschneider, Chelsea Hearson, and Diana Fredelake are our $50 winners.
Thanks to Andover State Bank and State Farm agent and EW Rotarian, Kevin Rathert, who co-sponsored the $500 prize purse. With their generosity, we could use all the bracket purchases as profit for the East Wichita Rotary Foundation. And what a profit it was: $1,875, which is more than one year’s scholarship for local students attending Kansas colleges, universities, or technical schools.