When the call came, Dennis Mitchell says he thought it was a prank
Dennis Mitchell of Luling had been buying tickets for the St. Jude Dream House giveaways for years because he wanted to give to a good cause, but this year he turned to his wife and announced, “Why not me this year?!”
Mitchell hadn’t really expressed frustration over not winning the house, but more about never winning anything in his life.
Soon after his comment, though, the phone rang.
“I guess the Lord answered,” Mitchell said wearing a St. Jude pin of a child on his lapel. “I had to make sure and slow my heart down because it was beating, and I didn’t want to go to the hospital.”
It was actually a TV station calling to ask Mitchell about winning a house with an estimated value of $650,000 in Lakeview, but he thought it was a prank. He was sure of it until another call came that confirmed he was the winner of the New Orleans St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway.
“I was jumping up and down with happiness with my wife,” he said. “She was like, ‘No. This ain’t true.’” But he replied with a big grin, “Yes it is.”
Mitchell had been buying the $100 ticket on these dream houses every year for nearly 15 years, which was fine because “they are good people.”
For the past 25 years, St. Jude has given away more than 370 houses and raised more than $300 million through the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway campaign, the largest single-event fundraiser for the hospital. It’s because of programs like this that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live.
“We’re excited for the winner, Dennis Mitchell, and pleased that this program has and always will be a win-win for everyone involved,” said Jim Barkate, local campaign chairperson for the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway.
“Fundraisers like this one allow St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to continue striving to find the answers to save every child with pediatric cancer or other life-threatening diseases through its lifesaving research.”
But nowhere near as excited as Mitchell who learned his “not winning” streak – and he emphasized not winning anything his whole life – ended at 5 p.m. June 8.
More amazing was Mitchell’s ticket had been pulled from more than 11,000 sold for the New Orleans giveaway for the 3,200 square-foot house on West End Boulevard in Lakeview built by Hyman L. Bartolo Jr. Contractors. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a luxurious outdoor courtyard and a custom, freestanding spiral staircase.
“It’s a beautiful home,” he said. “It’s a two-story house that is everybody’s dream. I love that kitchen. I do want it the way it’s set up.”
Since Mitchell retired from Monsanto five years ago, he has gotten into cooking, which he’s handling in his household because his wife is still working. This new kitchen, with its open space and modern amenities, is really complicating an already challenging decision about what the couple will do with the house.
Mitchell mused, “There’s pressure from family members. They are the ones saying, “Don’t think about selling it.’”
He loves the kitchen, but the couple also love their “little neck of the woods” in Luling so moving is a difficult option. Selling it is a possibility or Mitchell said it could end up a summer home. Mitchell was told some well-to-do winners have actually refused their won house or other winners refused it because they couldn’t handle the winnings.
Officially, the house has not yet been signed over to the couple, but Mitchell is the winner.
Mitchell said they have to resolve tax requirements first (32 percent must be paid on the house valued at $650,000), but they are trying to decide their next move, which means leaving the life they love in “their neck of the woods” or living in a literal dream house that has Mitchell’s dream kitchen. It could end up a vacation home.
“It’s like gambling winners,” he said with a big smile. “When you take possession, the government wants their share.”
With his win announced on television, Mitchell said he has gained some notoriety.
People recognize him at places like the post office and congratulate him, and sometimes as far away as St. John Parish.
“I’m just a calm person,” he said of how a being a winner might influence his life. “I’m not changed to have won. It’s just something that just got added to my portfolio I guess you might say.”
The couple is just going on with their business while pondering what to do with the first thing Mitchell’s ever won.
“That’s the thing,” he said. “I guess either live in the house or take possession and sell the house. I could do either one if I wanted to right now. I haven’t decided on that yet.”
But the hoopla of winning the house has focused Mitchell even more on supporting St. Jude’s work. He and his wife are scheduled to tour the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which treats cancer and other deadly diseases. He also plans to continue buying tickets to do just that and encourages others to do the same.
“There are some good people over there,” he said. “If you can afford $100, give – all of ya’ll.”
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