Originally posted on November 19th, 2008. I had just returned from my trip to visit Helene Hadsell in Alvarado TX and was regaling my followers with our adventures. This blog was written about our adventures at the monthly DFWinners Sweepstakes Club meeting. I also included it in the updated edition of The Name It & Claim It Game.

Last Sunday, I was lucky enough to attend the monthly club meeting of the DFWinners with Helene in tow. (See if you can spot her in any of the pictures.) It was held at the Spring Creek BBQ restaurant in Irving, TX. I found their club to be so different from the one I belong to.

My club, The Winner’s Circle, only has twelve members. We meet once per month at a local restaurant. We have lunch, chat about the hobby, and have a scratch lottery ticket trade.

This club had twenty-nine people in attendance. I am not sure how many members they have. They have a formal meeting format. Before the meeting starts, people line up to participate in the draws: stamped postcards, decorated envelopes, scratch tickets, 50/50, and Better Than Nothing. The meeting began with a Roll Call. Each person introduced themselves and what they had won since the last meeting—lots of cheering for each other. Even if someone’s wins were low the past month, there were many words of encouragement. They even have a wins board to track how many big wins they have had as a club.

Then I got up and spoke a bit about the hobby and answered questions about how the hobby is so different between Canada and the US. The shortlist of the differences are the lingo (contestor vs. sweeper), the taxes (in Canada, we do not pay income tax on winnings of any kind), there are virtually no mail-in contests left in Canada, and the number of local contests where participation is required is far greater.

I discovered later that the part of the meeting I spoke about was their Educational Session, where they learn something new to increase their odds of winning. The previous month they had made shaving cream envelopes.

Then they had their draws. I won the 50/50. WOO HOO! (I bought my daughter pink cowgirl boots with my winnings.)

After all the winning was done, they discussed club business. (The business section was very similar to the business section of my Toastmasters club meetings.) Since it was November, they talked about the Christmas party/meeting and the new executive for the following year. I then realized the four women sitting at the front were the President, Webmaster, Secretary, and Treasurer.

At the very end, Helene stood up and offered to host a few members as guests in her home one Sunday in the new year and teach them firsthand about attracting the wins they really want. They will have a draw for the five winners in January. Everyone was very excited at the prospect of being lucky enough to win an afternoon with Helene!

The two hours went by so fast. Helene and I had so much fun!!

If you are traveling, see which sweepstakes clubs are in the area and attend a meeting if you can. It’s a great way to be around fellow sweepers in between conventions. Helene had told me she stopped entering sweepstakes years ago because she won everything she ever wanted. My winning energy was so contagious that by the time I left, we were in the process of winning her a new computer. (I seem to have that effect on people!) So we agreed once she won, my family would all come down for a visit, and we would get her all set up. I plan to ensure our trip coincides with another DFWinners meeting!

Have you ever attended a sweepstakes club meeting?