Rotarians are committed to giving, so it’s difficult for Scott Morse to fully revel in winning the Lakeway/Lake Travis Rotary Club’s annual Mercedes-Benz raffle Nov. 5 at Carlos ‘n Charlie’s.

When Morse, an Arlington West Rotary Club member since 1994, purchased the winning ticket from Pete Piotroski, a former Lakeway Rotarian, the frequent ticket buyer had a feeling that this year might be the lucky one.
“I told [Pete] I think I ought to just win it this year,” he said jokingly.
As the club whittled tickets to the last one and the Beatles cover band The Eggmen cranked up the Yellow Submarine theme last Thursday, an energy washed over the crowd around the ticket board and hopper.
When Morse’s name was announced, the announcer placed a call on the spot to his contact number.
Morse attended a football game the night of the raffle, so he missed the call from Carlos ‘n Charlie’s announcing that he was the winner of either a Mercedes C350 sport sedan or GLK SUV and a five-day trip over to Germany to pick it up.
When his wife, Lisa, heard the message and relayed it to him, Morse doubted he really had won.
“I thought somebody was pulling my leg. I knew it had to be one of my friends in the Rotary club just having fun,” he said. “I’ve never won anything before.”
The dentist who traveled last year to the mountain village of Jinotega, Nicaragua, on a mission trip to perform tooth extractions with sparse access to electricity in room without air conditioning said he is used to giving rather than receiving.
“I feel a little guilty actually because it feels like I’m maybe taking something away. It’s more about serving people than about taking things away,” he said of his Rotary work.
Not that he would turn the prize down, but tooling around in a slick, new Mercedes would make Morse, who describes himself as a Chevy guy, slightly uncomfortable. The Chevy Suburban driver has never ridden in a Mercedes. His wife, however, said she would be happy to take it off his hands.
“I’m a little nervous about being seen in a Mercedes. She assured me she would have no problem at all driving it,” he said.
It’s a welcome gift for Lisa Morse after she battled through breast cancer treatments. The couple had recently talked about taking a trip somewhere.
They have plenty of details yet to plan, including which model they will take home and when they will travel to Europe, but Scott Morse said they would likely stretch their vacation to a week in June 2010.
The idea of winning a new car had yet to fully set in, but the Morses went to a Fort Worth Mercedes-Benz dealership over the weekend to look at potential vehicles.
“My whole family thinks this is pretty cool. We’re still just pinching ourselves. It’s hard to believe,” Morse said.
Although he isn’t a member of the Lakeway/Lake Travis Rotary Club, its members say they’re pleased that a fellow Rotarian won the coveted car-trip raffle prize.
Money raised from the raffle proceeds, minus the cost of the car, will fund college and vocational scholarships for Lake Travis High School students.
“We don’t want them slipping through the cracks. We want to help,” said Guy Oberg, car raffle chairperson.
Other Rotary programs include the EarlyAct FirstKnight program at the elementary and middle school levels, community service Interact Club at LTHS, bicycle and hearing aid donations to under-privileged youths and Special Olympics Awards luncheon.
Last year’s winner, Stuart Rorer of The Hills, shared his experiences from his trip that happened to be the same week as his 15th wedding anniversary.
Rorer roared along the Autobahn as he and his wife visited Germany, Austria.
“It’s beautiful to not have a speed limit,” he said. “It’s a wonderful experience. I was not a Mercedes owner before, but I will be in the future.”