The next Vigilant Hall Meat Raffle in West Seneca is coming up! That is why we are posting a review from the last meat raffle there. This one starts early and fills up quickly, and there was standing room only. Read more here from one of favorite contributors from MeatRaffles.com Several of us decided at the last minute to hit up the Spring raffle at Vigilant Fire in West Seneca.   Doors opened at 5 and some of us arrived early.   Good thing we did because it was nearly sold out in reservations. We were definitely running against the devil. Because most seats were reserved, they asked if we wanted to sit in the bar area away from the actual hall. We figured might as well jump at that.   The bar ran out of pitchers early (luckily we got one) but this was to be expected with such a high turnout. Instead of collecting dollars, we had to exchange them for poker chips. I’m not a fan of this but ain’t talking about love here.   Tickets were easy to come by even though everybody wanted some. With only 2 tables in the bar area (us and another group), we needed to make sure our eruption was loud enough when we won.   As always, Vigilant was and excellent time and oh yeah, we will be hitting it up in the Fall.  ...

With a few raffles to choose from last night, our group decided to venture to the Blasdell / Lackawanna area instead of the raffle on Walden. We came with a strong group of 14 people or so, giving us more than enough opportunity to win.  There was a small wait at the door, as the process was not as streamlined as most.  That is about the only complaint that we had with this meat raffle.  There was not a full house when the wheel started spinning, but certainly a solid number of people attending.  We had reserved a table ( a practice that his highly recommended when coming with groups) so seating was the least of our worries. Killians and Coors Light were the beers of choice for night, with glasses of wine also being served, for a fee from what i was told.  We made sure that we had enough beverages to start the night as well as enough change.   The raffle went at a torrid pace!!!  Ok, maybe not torrid, but we were impressed at the amount of rounds, and prizes given in the time frame.  The first spin started at 7, which was promptly won by our table.  Overall, as a group we fared pretty well, getting more than our fair share of the prizes coming out.  Only two people, Rich and Vanessa were the ones walking away empty handed. The 50/50 was over $300 by the time it was drawn, and the other smaller door prizes were a great break in the action. We were sure that we had been to this raffle before, and it did not disappoint yet again.  Lots of winnings, free beer, a sandwich and early out time all lead to a great night in meat raffle...

This was a first attempt at a meat raffle by both Shredd & Ragan from 103.3 The Edge as well as the Variety Club. It was clear upon talking to them on Tuesday of that week that there were some major flaws that needed to be corrected.  All things considered, the raffle was the best of a bad situation. The hall was a little on the small side considering the promotion that the meat raffle was receiving on the radio.  The hall was also quite a ways out in Lancaster, which could have certainly hindered some people from attending.  We arrived at about 630 and the parking lot was already quite full.  Presale tickets were available and we certainly took advantage of that.  Getting in and getting seats was not a problem. The spacing of the table however seemed to turn into quite an issue.  The tables were not far enough apart to let ticket runners down the aisles.  The hit the heads of the tables as best they could, but there was certainly not enough room to effectively buy and get tickets.  One set of friends ended up leaving early as they had gotten a chance to buy tickets in 3 rounds.  This also was the cause of the slow ticket selling process. The meat selection was not bad, having 3 winners per round.  the downfall here was that the tickets were only good for one spin as opposed to the 2,3 or sometimes 4 spins. Only having the ability to buy 1 ticket also severely limited the the chances of winning.  Gone was the advantage of getting 3 tickets to better the chances. The food was solid with a sandwich and the beer did not run out throughout the event.  The raffle did drag a little throughout, and by the finale, only 1/3 of the original audience remained. This was certainly not the best raffle we have attended, but after talking with Shredd, Ragan, and Liz from Variety Club, we can be sure that the fall raffle will be much better.  The original plan i feel would have been a whole lot worse and i appreciate everyone involved taking our observations and ideas into consideration. Above all else, it got me a chance to talk about meat raffles on the radio!  Here’s the link again....

With 5 meat raffles going on this past Saturday around Buffalo and Western New York, we chose to attend the Queen of Heaven meat raffle as it was the closest to home base. Usually, we tend to go to a meat raffle with a large table of people, but with our group decimated by prior engagements, birthdays, honey-moons and other really quite lame excuses, there were only 3 of us who attended. We have gone to this raffle before and have always had a decent time.  There was a limited line of people when we got there as the doors opened, so finding a seat and a table was not an issue.  This was a free admission raffle, which was a great bonus.  The Intermission Raffles and Finale Raffle tickets were available at the front table. There were a few reserved tables available and we found a seat near the front.  Free beer was served, with Molson Light and Coors light both available.  Small snack plates of chips were also readily available. The raffles wen on without a hitch.  Plenty of tickets each round being sold, as well as a solid pace.  The Intermission Raffle was your one + ticket and 68 spins.  After 6 more normal rounds, the Finale Tickets were in play with almost 80 spins occurring. As you can see from the photo above, we didn’t do too shabby at the end, winning a total of 8 times i believe.   Once again, the Queen of Heaven Meat Raffle does not disappoint, and gets the best rating we could give....

Well…….   This one stopped before it ever started for the www.meatraffles.com crew.   There was a limited number of people heading to this raffles, so the group effort was not in place for getting everything for this raffle setup….on our end.  We were made aware of the raffle being sold out just before we were leaving the house by a few different people on both our Facebook page as well as some new followers on Twitter. ( Much Appreciated) Being that the raffle was taking place in Sloan ( for those of you who don’t know, Sloan is a small community near Harlem and Broadway just outside of Buffalo) which is home to the “World Famous” Sloan Market.  They are providers for a number of meat raffles in the area, and it is no surprise that this one sold out quickly. This does lead us into a new series of blog posts that will be coming out in over the next few weeks.  We will be offering tips and tricks that we have picked up along the way to help you get ahead in the meat raffle game. For now…………...

Being that it was one of the first meat raffles of the season, the attendance was a little low.  This is especially true when comparing the numbers to the end of the season last year where it seemed every venue was packed as soon as they opened the doors. There was a $5.00 dollar admission for entry.  Door prizes and 50/50 raffles we also available right at the front table.  Our group was there a little earlier than most and chose a table in the middle of all the action. Meatraffles.com was proudly represented by a 14 person crew that did quite handsomely by the end of the raffle. Since we got in  a little early, a few of us went to the bar to grab some cocktails for the tables.  Come to find out, the bar was not serving until 6:30 at the earliest STRIKE ONE! Well, since I can’t get an adult beverage, i might as well get some change for the tickets throughout the raffle…….NOPE!!  Don’t have enough singles yet to give a &20.00 change. STRIKE TWO!!!!  Dear God don’t let us get to strike three! Fortunately, those were the only minor 2 mishaps that happened.  From that point on, our table consistently won, and A LOT.  Marie was able to take home pretty much one of everything throughout trades and was getting heckled towards the end of the raffle.  This tends to happen to our group!   I Biggest Loser of the night was our dear friend Tom, who was the only person of the grouped to get...