Woman wins coveted Springsteen tickets
When Wendy Compton-Ring bought two raffle tickets from her daughter, she didn’t expect to win a trip to see The Boss.
“I’ve never won anything, I just figured it was a donation,” Compton-Ring said.
For $20, she didn’t foresee winning two tickets to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, exclusive passes to relax in the VIP E Street Lounge before the show and $1,500 in cash to defray travel expenses — but that is exactly what happened Saturday night.
“I was pretty shocked,” Compton-Ring said.
Compton-Ring’s lucky guest will be her husband, Dave.
They plan to make a trip to Louisiana in April to see Springsteen perform during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Music Festival. In the meantime, Compton-Ring is brushing up on the Springsteen hits she listened to in high school.
Compton-Ring, senior planner for the city of Whitefish, had purchased two raffle tickets, $10 each, from her daughter, Sonja, who plays clarinet at Whitefish Middle School.
The middle school, Whitefish High School and North Valley Music School teamed up to sell raffle tickets to benefit their music programs. They sold about 1,100 raffle tickets and raised $14,705.
The raffle was organized by Whitefish residents Toby Scott, a Springsteen sound engineer, and Garry Tallent, founding bass guitarist for the E Street Band.
This is the third, and most successful year, that Scott has spearheaded Springsteen ticket raffles to benefit local music programs — and it’s not over.
For those who missed out on the ticket raffle, there are six more tickets to be auctioned online through eBay’s Giving Works program.
The auction begins today and bidding will end in seven days, Scott said.
Two tickets and two pre-show VIP E Street Lounge passes will be auctioned for three separate “Wrecking Ball” tour dates to see Springsteen.
Tickets will be for first-tier reserved seats or exclusive pit passes. Reserved seats are located within the first five rows to the left or right of the stage.
All but one of the tour dates being auctioned already are sold out at the box office.
When the online auction wraps up, Whitefish band director Mark McCrady estimates more than $20,000 could be realized for the three music programs. McCrady foresees enough proceeds to purchase a piano for the high school and a baritone saxophone for the middle school.
“This has all been quite a success,” McCrady said.
Two tickets will be auctioned online per location:
April 1, Washington, D.C., Verizon Center.
April 3, East Rutherford, N.J., Izod Center.
April 24, San Jose, Calif., HP Pavilion.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.