The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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December 11, 2009

Playhouse winners get 'really cool gift'

By Joe Malan, Staff Writer

James Barber was hoping to surprise his 5-year-old daughter, Alisha, with a playhouse for Christmas.

His hopes may only halfway come to fruition if Alisha somehow gets a look at this newspaper.

Stacy Carter, 24, won the pink girl’s playhouse, which measures 8 feet by 8 feet, for herself and Barber, 27, who are engaged to be married. They will follow through on their plan to give Alisha the structure as a special Christmas gift.

“I saw it in the newspaper,” Barber said, “and I thought it would be a really cool gift.”

Both the girl’s and boy’s playhouses were won in a drawing at Thursday night’s Enid High School Christmas concert. One ticket each was drawn to determine the winners.

Tickets were bought from businesses all around Enid.

Carter bought her winning ticket from Bank of Kremlin in North Enid — one of two she had purchased.

Barber had purchased seven tickets himself, but it was Carter who wound up with the winning slip.

The couple now have a few weeks to move the playhouse off the courthouse lawn and to their home, a task they must accomplish themselves.

For now, Barber doesn’t know where they’re going to “hide” the house, but he’s still very excited for his daughter.

“She’s gonna flip out,” he said with a big grin.

The boy’s playhouse, meanwhile, was won by 13-year-old Bates Enmeier.

Enmeier wasn’t able to make it to Thursday night’s concert, but he found out he had won through his mom’s friend, who sent a text message to his mother from the concert.

She had given three tickets each to Enmeier and his two siblings.

“She just bought three for each kid, and I got lucky,” Enmeier said.

He said he and his brother drove by the courthouse earlier in the year, took a look at the Army camo-colored structure and decided they wanted it.

Their wish came true Thursday.

Enmeier, an avid huntsman, plans to use the playhouse as a deer blind.

“We’ll put it on a hill (near our house), where the deer eat,” he said, “and we’ll open up a window and hunt out of it.”

The two houses were built by Garfield County’s Child Advocacy Council, and proceeds from tickets sales went to benefit the organization.

A total of $4,975 was raised from the event. Since each ticket was $5, that means almost 1,000 total tickets combined were in the drawing.

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