All hands on deck: Chase the Ace demanding more volunteers, stronger cell signal in Goulds

A team of 30 volunteers were busy at St. Kevin's Church on Monday morning, stapling thousands of 50/50 tickets to get ready for Wednesday night's Chase the Ace.

Outside, Bell Aliant linesmen climbed telephone poles to install signal boosters. With the size of the crowd, the cellular network is overwhelmed each Wednesday, making it near impossible to make a call or send a text.

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On Monday morning, volunteers attended a planning meeting with city officials — all because the weekly event has grown beyond even the most lofty idea of its potential, with an expected jackpot of $1 million.

"When we started this, we hoped to get maybe 10 or 12 weeks of it just to have a small fundraiser," said Patsy Hynes, secretary at St. Kevin's Church, where the lottery is held.

"We never thought we would get to this. It's taken on a life of its own now."

The local 4H club, with 63 children and 30 parents, has taken on the task of stapling together 50/50 tickets.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, the group worked its way through 500,000 tickets priced at a dollar each.

"Our wrists and hands are starting to feel it," laughed parent volunteer Jacqueline Poole. "We've got a big group and lots of parents. Community support is one of our things."

The group worked until 11 p.m. on Sunday night before getting back at it again Monday morning. A team of five children sat at a table, their sole job to reload empty staplers.

The event is like a small festival going off each week, said St. John's Coun. Danny Breen.

The difference, however, is festivals like the Regatta have been fine-tuned over the years, while Chase the Ace is evolving each week.

"This is beyond anything that we've seen lately," Breen said. "To date, I believe [the organizers] have done a really good job, considering what they're dealing with."

Each week, the city's traffic department meets with the organizers, along with representatives of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the St. John's Regional Fire Department.

Out of this week's meeting, it was decided 17 RNC officers will be on hand for Wednesday's draw. Streets will be closed at the discretion of police.

In past weeks, the lucky winner had 15 minutes to get to the church hall to draw for the ace or another ticket would be called. This week, there will be two more satellite venues where the winning ticket can be presented.

Organizers hope this will free up some of the congestion around the church, giving people two more locations to congregate around. One will be located near the race track, while the other will be at the Rona hardware store.

This week's jackpot is expected to exceed $1 million.