Brittany Westerberg

After selling nearly 32,000 raffle tickets for a chance to win a 2007 Ford Mustang, the Pride of the Dakotas marching band announced during the Cal Poly-SDSU game Oct. 20 that the winners of the car were Deb and Brad Gertner of Westbrook, Minn.

The Gertners are the parents of Kyle Gertner, a senior tuba player in The Pride and a music education major. Deb and Brad Gertner were not at the football game to hear the news because of chores on the family dairy farm, and Kyle wasn’t able to get a hold of them until 5 a.m. the next morning to share the news.

The Gertners’ winning ticket was drawn by C.L. Keedy, the Tournament of Roses president, during halftime of the football game.

The raffle was held to earn money for The Pride’s trip to the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade. This will be the second time The Pride has gone to the Rose Parade in the last five years. The band’s crisp presentation, musicality and engaging spirit made it just the kind of group Tournament of Roses organizers liked to be part of their New Year’s Day parade, according to Keedy.

It is said that 40 million people in the U.S. and 300 million people in 150 different countries worldwide watch the Tournament of Roses every year. Pride marching band director Jim McKinney and other specialized directors Alan Taylor, Jim Coull and Aaron Ragsdale are preparing the musicians to march and play along the seven-mile parade route.

The entire trip itself will cost about $1.4 million, and fundraising continues. According to Rina Reynolds, director of development for Arts and Sciences at the SDSU Foundation, said that there is just under $100,000 left in the fundraising goal.

#1.883183:159907064.jpg:car_winner.jpg:The Gertners stand with their son Kyle, a senior tuba player, and SDSU Music Department Head David Reynolds by the 2007 Ford Mustang they won Oct. 20.:Courtesy Photo