Before giving each of the approximately 50 Duke Automotive employees a raffle ticket for a Harley Davidson motorcycle, Lydia Duke made them promise to sell the bike if they won it.

“I didn’t want anybody getting hurt and having that on my conscience,” Duke said recently.

Duke, a member of the Suffolk Rotary Club, was allotted 75 $10 tickets to sell for the club’s Peanut Festival raffle of a Harley. After purchasing for the employees and selling about 20 more to various friends and vendors, she found herself left with five. After checking with everyone else at the dealership, she wrote a personal check for $50 for the final five.

She was home on Sunday, Oct. 11, the last day of the festival, when she received the call that one of the five tickets she purchased won the Harley.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she told fellow Rotarians at a recent meeting, clad in black leather riding clothing. “I was just so excited I called everyone I could think of.”

But Duke won’t be cruising around Suffolk on her new bike. She said she plans to follow her own advice and sell the motorcycle — and after retaining enough to pay sales taxes, she’s going to share the proceeds with the employees of Duke Automotive.

“I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the money than to benefit the people who make us look good every single day,” she said.

Lynette Brugeman, who headed up the Rotary fund raiser, said the club cleared about $6,000 on the event. Proceeds will benefit a host of local organizations including the Boy and Girl Scouts, Nansemond Suffolk Rescue Squad, Salvation Army, Suffolk Art League, Suffolk Cheer Fund, Suffolk Meals on Wheels, Suffolk United Way, Suffolk Youth Athletic Association, and two scholarships to graduating seniors at each high school.