Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
libey boat
Gary Libey won this StanCraft wooden boat at the annual “Give Hunger the Bird” benefit in Hayden, Idaho, on Saturday. He also won a Porsche Macan S.
On Tuesday he won election as new superior court judge in Whitman County, running unopposed.
Last Saturday night his phone rang at home asking where he would like his boat and car delivered.
Gary Libey of Colfax thought it was a prank or a scam, as noise obscured the other line.
Someone at the annual “Give Hunger the Bird” benefit in Hayden, Idaho, had just pulled a raffle ticket – No. 0342 – for the winner of a 2017 StanCraft Riverboat and new Porsche Macan S.
“We were all cheering in the background,” said Leslie Orthe, executive director for Post Falls Food Bank, which holds its annual “Give Hunger the Bird” event in the StanCraft warehouse. “I don't think he (Libey) knew what to make of it.”
Ten minutes later, Libey's son Patrick called saying that he got a call from his friend's parents, who were at the benefit.
Another call came five minutes after that from Sammy Eubanks, a musician playing the event – whose wife knew the Libeys.
Now the judge believed.
In June, Gary recalled, he and wife Trudy were at their Coeur d'Alene condominium when someone came to the door selling the $100 tickets. The couple won out of 3,500 tickets sold to benefit the Post Falls Food Bank.
“It was like making a donation,” Libey said of buying the ticket.
Now they have got a new Porsche and a 17-foot handmade mahogany boat. The two items, with matching red and black interiors, have an estimated value of $160,000.
“I've been lucky this year; nobody ran against me in the election, and we win this boat and car,” Libey said. “Trudy's gonna be the Porsche driver; I'm a Ford man myself.”
With another vehicle set to claim space in the driveway, Libey called Tom Riedner Monday at Homestead Ministries and donated his 2000 Ford Expedition.
As for the boat and trailer, the Libeys plan to sell them.
Previous boat owners, they sold their last one three years ago.
“I've been happier ever since,” Libey said.
The “Give Hunger the Bird” event began nine years ago with proprietors of StanCraft filling a boat with frozen turkeys. This was the first year for the “Drive Away Hunger” raffle.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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