Chamber Announces 2023 Blue Bucks Promotion Winners
LOS ALAMOS, NM | December 11, 2023 – The holiday shopping season kicked off on Nov. 25 in Los Alamos and White Rock with Small Business Saturday. This year, a few lucky shoppers also won big in the Enterprise Bank & Trust Blue Bucks Raffle! The program is designed to incentivize shopping locally and offers shoppers a chance to win cash prizes and gift cards to participating businesses.
For the sixth consecutive year, the Blue Bucks Raffle promotion was organized by the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce and Los Alamos MainStreet and sponsored by Enterprise Bank & Trust. Blue Bucks raffle tickets were given out by participating businesses for any purchase up to $25 (first ticket), then one ticket for each additional $25 spent. Blue Bucks tickets were given out from Friday, November 24 through Saturday, December 9. There were over 21,000 tickets returned for the raffle. The grand prize winner of the drawing is Michael Filip, who received the winning ticket while shopping at Metzger’s Do It Best Hardware, who also won $1,000 for giving away the winning ticket. The $500 winner is Leonard Pino, who received his winning ticket at Metzger’s Do It Best Hardware.
The $250 winner was Jamie Mabey, who received her winning ticket from Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. The drawing on Tuesday was also for four gift bags, each containing approximately $500 in gift certificates or merchandise from participating businesses. The winners are James L. Carroll, who shopped at White Rock Toys & Gaming, now known as Art’s Place Toys & Gaming; Gale Brinkerhoff, who shopped at Pet Pangaea; Jill Ryan, who also shopped at Pet Pangaea: and Nancy Ambrosiano who shopped at Glisten Skin & Beauty Bar, which was formerly the Hilltop Spa!
Small Business Saturday is an annual celebration in conjunction with the national promotion started by American Express to support local businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Started in Los Alamos in 2010 by Cyndi Wells, owner of Pet Pangaea, the event has grown over the years. In 2020 Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation (LACDC) won a Bronze Award from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) for the Small Business Saturday Blue Bucks Raffle Promotion in the “Innovative Programs and Initiatives” category. “Thank you again to Enterprise Bank & Trust for sponsoring Small Business Saturday and the Blue Bucks promotion for the sixth year in a row,” said Ryn Herrmann, Director of the Chamber of Commerce. “Many of our local businesses let us know that Small Business Saturday truly helps their bottom line. So, thank you to all who participated in the Blue Bucks promotion. Supporting our small businesses and shopping local really does make a difference to our community.
The Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce is a program of Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation; a private, not-for-profit economic and community development organization serving the Los Alamos area since 1983. LACDC serves as the umbrella organization for the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce, Los Alamos MainStreet, Los Alamos Creative District, Discover Los Alamos, Los Alamos Small Business Center, projectY cowork Los Alamos, Los Alamos Research Park, LEEP (Lab Embedded Entrepreneurial Program) and the Los Alamos Business Accelerator.
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Media Contact:
Megan Bucklin
Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Member Services Manager
megan@losalamos.org 505.661.4816