West Kelowna resident Dawn Urban may be the luckiest person in the Okanagan, considering she is the 2019 winner of the Key to the SOEC.

In its fourth year, the contest gives one lucky winner two tickets to every public event hosted at the South Okanagan Events Centre and a pre-show dinner to select events for one year.

According to Dean Clarke, general manager of the SOEC, about 8,200 contest entries were submitted this year and from that, finalists Shane Byers from Penticton, Shannon Becker from Osoyoos and Urban were selected and gathered at the events centre and determine who would get the lucky key.

Names were drawn to determine the order that the finalists would choose one of three keys, and once each finalist had a key, they were asked to try them on the locked entrance doors of the centre. After a suspenseful countdown, it was Urban’s key that was able to open the door, sealing her victory.

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Urban said of the upcoming events, she is most excited to see Rascal Flatts when they perform in Penticton on Oct. 30.

“It’s so amazing, I am so looking forward to it,” said Urban, who was genuinely surprised to be the big winner considering due to the name drawing, she was the last to be given a key. “There are so many people that I want to take with to concerts and stuff so it will be great.”

Byers and Becker didn’t leave empty-handed though, with each winning a $200 gift card for the SOEC, so they can hopefully still get tickets to their favourite upcoming event.

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Clarke said the contest is important to the SOEC because it’s a great opportunity to showcase Penticton and all of the great events the centre hosts.

“It’s our way to give back to all of the people who support the SOEC and support the City of Penticton and our partners. So each year, we’ve had a tremendous number of entries,” said Clarke. “It’s grown 15 per cent a year, I think we had about 8,200 entries this year. It’s our best marketing tool and we continually drive great events, and we want to make sure the Okanagan benefits from the beautiful building we have and the beautiful city that we have.”

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