The Canowindra Newsagency owned by Graham & Debbie Rice has proved to be a four leaf clover in our small community. The Agency features 8 plaques, each showcasing the winning tickets sold at Canowindra Newsagency. Three of the plaques represent $1.6 million dollars’ worth of first division prizes in the lotto and the other 5 represent about $900,000 in 1st prize the Jackpot Lottery. There has also been 2nd division prizes won from the Lotto, one of the highest being $60,000, along with 2 Instant Scratchy prizes of $25,000 and 2 of $10,000.
“Considering how small the population is here, I think we are very lucky to have sold 8 big winning tickets and smaller prizes, and most of them have been to local residents”, Deb said.
The Newsagency sold a winning ticket just before Christmas and after Christmas and some of the newsagencies in surrounding towns have only sold a few or no winning tickets! Could it be the luck of the 100 year old building? Or are the residents in our small town just very fortunate? The Newsagency was built in the 1920’s by Walter Goodacre and the land was actually owned by Graham’s Great Grandfather Har- ry. It has had many owners; Fletcher, Webb, Rice, Bortfield, Baker, Scoble, Smith, Walker, Glover and has been a newsagency for over 90 years with the shopfront still showcasing its ‘original tiling and glazing.
Graham and Deb have owned the newsagency for 25 years and were the very first store in NSW to include a Westpac Bank which they have been running for 15 years.
“We love the people that come in, especially some of the early morning customers, they are characters, but it is a very busy job, we start at 6am and don’t finish till 6pm open 7 days a week”, Graham said.