the mods 'took a vote' on it and determined it had run its course. How, I fail to see - but being a private club with moderators who hide behind "moderator1" titles, and a forum which has a proven history of allowing sponsors dictate what can be said about them in a forum (threads allowed to be deleted, altered, etc when a sponsor is given honest criticism) - it's not hard to believe.
I've been PMing with 'moderator1' and he/she suggested that everyone who had purchased a raffle ticket without refund, or who is waiting to hear about their salt purchase start a thread about it. Since I am in neither of these two situations, I won't be starting it.