Castlewood man wins Chase the Ace and takes home $150,000

CASTLEWOOD, SD (Dakota News Now) – After a year, the Ace of Spades has finally been found in Castlewood.

The Castlewood Community Foundation’s 51st Chase the Ace fundraiser was held Tuesday night at the Ship’s Inn Bar & Grill.

Charlie Trenary was the lucky name drawn from the lottery, but he has been playing since the first week and this is not the first time he has won the weekly sale.

“I got involved early. I don’t remember what week it was, but I got about $200,” Charlie said.

The second time he won even more. Of the two remaining envelopes, Charlie chose #35, which actually contained the Ace of Spades. Charlie walked away Tuesday night with just under $150,000.

A member of the Castlewood Community Foundation says they were delighted to see a local resident win a top prize.

“Everybody wanted to win, but if you couldn’t win, Charlie would be at the top of the list who you’d want to see win. Charlie’s been supporting the fundraiser the whole time. They’ve been through some challenges this year, health issues. The community is behind they came together,” said Castlewood Community Foundation President Lois Viarda.

Darlene, Charlie’s wife, has had five hip surgeries in the past year and has lost the ability to walk. The couple plans to use their winnings to pay for those medical expenses.

“Well, we have a lot of hospital bills to pay, so it’s going to cost a lot,” Charlie said.

Castlewood Community Foundation will also walk away with a good chunk of change to help fund their expansion projects.

“We have to calculate our costs now, but we expect that, hopefully, we will get about $200,000,” Viarda said.

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