23-year-old wins new Cadillac

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By Jeff Bahr
 
 
Devon Vancura isn’t really a Cadillac kind of guy. He’s more of a pickup person, which is why he’s probably going to be trading in his new car.
 
Vancura, 23, won a 2018 Cadillac CT6 sedan Thursday night in the annual Heartland United Way drawing.
 
He’s thinking about trading the car in for a pickup.
 
“I haven’t decided yet. I’m still processing it all,” he said.
 
He’s probably going to think about it for a while.
 
“We’ll see. I still have a lot of student loans from college yet. So we’ll see how things play out,” he said.
 
Vancura is a manufacturing engineer at CNH Industrial. A 2015 graduate of Ord High School, he graduated last spring from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
 
When the night began, 24 people had a chance to win the car. Before the drawing began, Steve Stec became the 25th person.
 
Tom Dinsdale and emcee Derek Apfel gradually winnowed the list down to two. Finishing second in the contest was Sherri O’Callaghan, who works at Equitable Bank.
 
What kind of wheels does Vancura have now?
 
“Well, I actually drove here in my little sister’s car, which is a 2006 Grand Prix. That’s mine also, just a different model.”
 
The Cadillac, he said, is “a little bit of a step up.”
 
His new vehicle has a list price of $72,515.
 
The premium luxury car is self-driving. “If you get on I-80, you can go to Denver without touching the steering wheel,” said Dinsdale Automotive’s Doug Somer.
 
Before Thursday, what was the biggest thing Vancura ever won? “A candy bar, maybe, in high school,” he said.
 
Vancura has lived in Grand Island only since June, when he started work at CNH Industrial. Giving money to United Way, he thought, would be donating to a good cause.
 
“I figured I might as well start off my career at Case strong, and help start supporting it,” he said of United Way.
 
Donating to Heartland United Way, he believes, is a good way to support the next generation.
 
If high school students get support from other people, “it just makes a world of difference later on,” Vancura said.
 
It was the 17th year in a row that Tom and Kim Dinsdale have donated a car for the Heartland United Way drawing.
 
Why do the Dinsdales contribute a car every year?
 
“Because the United Way has such a positive impact on the community in so many different ways,” said Mike Jakubowski, who is the dealership’s executive manager.
 
The company loves “to support anything that’s great for our city and our area. Tom and Kim are some of the most generous people I’ve ever met in my life. They’re incredible to people in need,” Jakubowski said.
 
It took a while to find the 25th key winner Thursday night, because you had to be present to have a shot at the car.
 
The name of Stec’s wife, who was not present, was the 22nd name to be drawn. The husband and wife had contributed to United Way together, so Steve Stec got the 25th chance.
 
Along the way, Apfel read the names of a couple of attorneys, who weren’t present. “They’re out chasing ambulances right now,” Apfel said.
 
Dan Naranjo, a previous car winner, was already one of the 24 key winners. As Apfel kept reading off names, he announced Naranjo’s name twice more. But Naranjo told Afpel to keep reading, to give somebody else a chance.
 
Before the drawing, Karen Rathke, the president and chief professional officer, talked about Heartland United Way’s efforts this year.
 
The fall campaign total is $1,377,000.86. The total raised to date is $2,446,487.86.