Two lucky International Falls residents will be spending Halloween aboard a cruise ship in the Bahamas, all expenses paid.
Sean Bahr won a recent drawing to join Bud Light Party Cruise from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.
Bahr will travel to Cape Canaveral, Fla., where he will join 4,600 other cruise winners aboard the Royal Caribbean liner, Sovereign of the Seas, and its sister ship, Majesty of the Seas. He visited the contest Web site and saw there are about 10 other Minnesota winners.
Bahr said other than a couple of family trips when he was younger, this will be the first time that he has won a contest or traveled anywhere on his own. The anticipation is growing as he goes over the cruise line itinerary.
“I don’t know what to expect at all,” said Bahr. “I am totally overwhelmed. I am really excited. It’s going to be a thrill for me just to go to Florida.”
The ship will make stops in Nassau and at a private Caribbean island owned by Anheuser-Busch. There will be on-board concerts and one on the island by featured performers that will be announced on board.
“The ships are amazing,” he said. “There are theaters, bars, restaurants, pools and even workout facilities.”
It was an interesting road to the cruise.
Jay Bartkowski, owner of Coca Cola Bottling, also a distributor of Anheuser-Busch products, organized the cruise drawing events over four months at five Borderland establishments.
“This was an opportunity for us to not only introduce people to Bud Light, but to reward those that have been drinking our products over time,” said Bartkowski. “We enjoyed doing something different for the people in our territory.”
This promotion was unique and stands out in size and scope, said Bartkowski. He said the satellite drawings were cosponsored by the establishments and began to take on a life of its own. They split costs and gave special prices on both sides as more people began attending as the buzz about the drawings went around.
“It did turn out to be more work than we thought at the start, but it was well worth it,” said Bartkowski.
Coca Cola employees, Jill Herzig, Patty Battalion, Denise Nevanen, Beth Peterson and Julie Bartkowski, organized the drawing events at Ash Trail Lodge, Littlefork Municipal Liquor Store, Sportsman’s Lodge in Baudette, Viking Bar in International Falls and the Ranier Municipal Liquor Store.
Each location had prize drawings every 20 minutes for merchandise and Vikings tickets. Around 60 people won a chance to attend to win the ultimate party cruise drawing event.
“We invited the finalists to the launch party drawing at Sha~Sha Resort,” said Bartkowski.
Bahr described the Sha~Sha event as a fun-filled few hours as they waited for the big moment. He actually won two chances for the final drawings at the Viking Bar and at Ranier Municipal. His companion, Desireé Oswald, also won a chance at the final drawing at the Viking.
“We made a deal,” said Bahr. “You take me and I take you.”
“It pretty much feels the same as if I won myself,” said Oswald. “Either way I still get to go.”
Oswald said this is also her first chance to do something outside of the area. She won the finalist drawing at the Viking Bar.
Some people opted for merchandise rather than the chance for the trip. Bartkowski said the drawings were held in lodges during the height of the tourist season, and not everyone could come back for the big drawing.
There were also alternate winners in the event that Bahr decides not to take the dream vacation. Bartkowski said they are sad to hear that both Bahr and Oswald already have their passports.
“Sean is a good winner,” said Bartkowski. “I will be interested to hear about the trip.”
