Free gas raffle part of Glen Burnie carnival | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

The "Gas and Go" raffle will feature three prizes of $250, $500 and a grand prize of $750. The winners will take home $250 Exxon gift cards.

"Every year the committee looks at all the games and see which ones work and which ones people play," said Candy Fontz with the Glen Burnie Improvement Association, which sponsors the annual carnival. "This year we took out a couple and put in the 'Gas and Go' raffle."

The accessibility of the filling stations and the current state of the economy were taken into consideration when the GBIA decided to add the gasoline raffle.

"There are a lot of Exxons in the area and across the nation and it makes sense to find something economical," said Ms. Fontz. "A lot of people are commuting and this will be easy on their wallet."

Tickets will be available every night at the carnival, sold from a stand across from the car raffle stand. There will be no advance on the gas raffle, although advance tickets are available for the car.

"Come to the stand and there will be some highly enthusiastic individuals ready to swap your $2 dollars for a ticket," Ms. Fontz said.

"It gives you a lot of options. I could give one to my husband and one to my son. It's something I would want to give $2 for."

The traditonal raffle of a car this year features a gas sipping 2008 Ford Focus.

"We thought 35 miles per gallon would be good with the way the economy is and the way gas is right now," said Ms. Fontz.

The tax, tags, and title fee are all paid for by the GBIA.

The announcement of the winner will be on Aug. 2, the last night of the carnival. There will be a final call around 11 p.m. for entries followed by a drawing.

The announcement of the winner marks the official end of the carnival.

"It's always a perk when the winning ticket is called and the winner is there," said Ms. Fontz.

She said three years ago a man won a Mazda 3 after buying one ticket. The final day of the carnival coincided with his birthday, and no one was home when the call came that he'd won.

A GBIA representative left him a message, which he suspected was a joke. After returning the call to the association, he found that he was the winner of a new car.

Proceeds from the raffles and the carnival go back to the GBIA for its day-to-day needs and community projects.