Sweepstakes Prize Adds Up to Excitement for Math Teacher

South Orange, NJ, Feb. 26, 2009: A New Jersey area woman received the shock of a lifetime today when she was visited by the drop-in guests anyone would welcome these days when most bank accounts are suffering from the economic downturn.

Doris Gray, 61 of South Orange, NJ, was surprised Thursday by the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol who named her the winner of one of its largest sweepstakes SuperPrizes ever: $5,000.00 A Week - for the rest of her life.

Mrs. Gray learned on Tuesday that she was on a "short list" of winners who won either $1,000 or “the big one.” But she was unprepared for the PCH Prize Patrol’s arrival - with a giant prize certificate and bouquets of roses and balloons. Unannounced, videotaped winning moments are a Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes tradition and a perennial centerpiece of the company’s TV campaigns.

Mrs. Gray is a math teacher at PS 12 in Paterson, NJ. She was surprised by the Prize Patrol on her lunch hour, when the school principal called her to the lunch room. In front of the lunch room packed with children and her husband Willie (whom the Prize Patrol found at their home), Gray was shocked, teary and speechless to learn of her win.

The PCH Prize Patrol was accompanied by the NJ Star Ledger which reported on and videotaped the story of the new Publishers Clearing House winner.

Following Thursday’s announcement of Mrs. Gray’s win on The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, her sweepstakes winning moment was posted on one of the company’s websites, pchtv.com, where archival video footage of PCH Prize Patrol visits can be seen.

Mrs. Gray’s SuperPrize Number from an online sweepstakes entry at pch.com matched the winning number that was selected in a drawing held just a few days ago. Chances to win prizes are available daily online at the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes website and at the company’s popular free online game sites, such as PCH Lotto, PCH Games, or PCH Scratch Cards. Entries are also available at PCH Search & Win, where participants get a chance to win every time they do an online search.

Sweepstakes Headquarters Update

All morning long those of us here at Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes Headquarters in Port Washington, NY have been checking emails and voicemails for updates from the PCH Prize Patrol members. You see, today’s the big day when our prize award team will surprise the winner of our $5,000 A Week For Life SuperPrize.

We gave the Prize Patrol members a joyous send-off when they left the office and we’ve been eagerly checking out their progress reports sent from the road. Do they think the winner will be home when they arrive? Will family members be around? Did they get any news stations lined up to join them for the sweepstakes winning moment?

A few hours ago we heard the SuperPrize winner wasn’t home, so the Prize Patrol was going to head to the place where she works and try to surprise her there … more tension and waiting … where does she work? What’s she like? We know she has internet access because her matching winning number was from an online sweepstakes entry … more waiting …

Then, smiles started spreading all around the Contest Department as the first email came through telling us about the sweepstakes winning moment. In her own words, here’s what Allison of the PCH Prize Patrol told us:

“Just had the best winner in the history of prize patrol! She had us crying too!”

Wow! Sounds like it was a tremendous success – an emotional high, with lots of hugs and tears! Hey, send us some photos asap, we asked.

And here it is – a photo of the happiest person in America today – our new $5,000 A Week For Life sweepstakes winner!

Note the box of tissues next to her …

I can’t wait to see the video of the winning moment and to hear all about this sweepstakes winner’s story! Several PCH’ers have stopped by my office to ask when the winning moment video will be posted online.

You can watch the $5,000 A Week sweepstakes winning moment tonight after 7 pm Eastern time on PCHTV.com. And, as soon as we get more information from Dave Sayer and the rest of the PCH Prize Patrol team, we’ll tell you all about the sweepstakes winner and her story online at the PCH Blog.

Enjoying the thrill of witnessing a new sweepstakes winner’s dreams come true,

Deborah Holland

Executive Vice President

The Winning-est Moments #2

Because Americans love to see lists of the “Top Ten” or the “best” or the “most memorable,” I’ll continue sharing with you blog-readers the “winning-est moments” that our PCH Prize Patrol has had surprising winners of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. Here are five more extraordinary sweepstakes winning moments:

Loudest: Sherwin Gerber, a sweepstakes winner from Buffalo Grove, IL was on the phone with a friend when he came to the door and saw us with a Big Check for $10,000. His immediate reaction was so deafening he almost burst his friend’s eardrum, and his shouts of joy brought neighbors running.

Most Skeptical: Olga Pease of El Paso, TX was doing her laundry when the PCH Prize Patrol rang the bell for her sweepstakes winning moment. It took us a good 15 minutes to convince her that she and her husband Harold had actually won a cash prize in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. She eventually invited us in, but kept doing her laundry and shaking her head in disbelief as we tried to hand over the Big Check.

Longest Wait: Huge Cash Prize Winner Pamela Barton was at a weekend conference in nearby Houston, TX; so our $10 Million sweepstakes prize award presentation scheduled for Thursday night didn’t take place until Monday morning. We had no choice but to hang out for four nights. Actually, we didn’t mind the delay … it was a nice resort!

Most Disruptive: When $1 Million SuperPrize winner Erelene Ferrera wasn’t home (near Monterey, CA) for her sweepstakes winning moment, we tracked down her daughter Sandy at a medical practice where she worked. The people in the waiting room trembled and ran for cover – so loud were Sandy’s shrieks of surprise when she saw the Big Check.

Dressiest: Doreen Norton, sweepstakes prize winner from New York, NY. The doorman wouldn’t let us into the luxury high-rise where she lived; so we waited in our Prize Patrol van on the street until the doorman identified her on her way to work. It was only a $10,000 prize, but this glamorous Manhattanite looked like a million bucks in the film of her sweepstakes winning moment.

On this eve of the first ever Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes award of a $5,000 A Week For Life SuperPrize, we’re all wondering what the new millionaire winner’s reaction will be in front of the video camera. Will it go down in history as one of the Prize Patrol’s “Winning-est Moments?”

Tune in to NBC Nightly News to watch for a commercial announcement of the winner and log on to PCHTV.com after 7 pm Eastern Time to watch the entire sweepstakes winning moment.

If you’ve entered the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes online or through the mail, maybe it will be your winning moment – and then all your friends could tune in and watch!

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

Prize Patrol Dispatched

The PCH Prize Patrol was dispatched today to go on another sweepstakes prize award journey. They came to work this morning with their suitcases packed and ready to go. This is a big week for surprising winners, with cash prize awards of $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 and the huge SuperPrize $5,000 A Week for Life!

The excitement is building here at Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes headquarters in anticipation of the winning moments that will soon be seen on TV and on PCHTV.com. Everyone’s wondering who the next SuperPrize winner will be, where the lucky sweepstakes entrant lives and what his or her sweepstakes winning moment reaction will be.

If you sent in your sweepstakes entry online or through the mail, maybe it will be you! What would your reaction be if the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol surprised you with $5,000 A Week For Life? Would friends or family come rushing over to congratulate you? Would you faint, cry or shout for joy? Post a comment to let us know what your sweepstakes winning moment would be like!

The Glow of Prize Winning Lasts and Lasts

Our blog on February 19th told of the PCH Prize Patrol’s visit to sweepstakes winner Gay Fairris of Romulus, Michigan, and we gave you a link to her prize winning story that appeared on WDIV-TV, Channel 4, Detroit.

Everyone has enjoyed that story because the sweepstakes winner was doubly surprised! She opened her garage door to put the garbage out, was surprised to see the Prize Patrol parked at curbside and figured that a neighbor was about to get the shock of a lifetime. But the surprise was really on Gay because she was the cash prize winner.

Here’s the link to the local news video, in case you missed it:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/18726980/index.html .

And here are some photos that I took of Gay – with and without me in the shot.

I phoned Gay the day after the sweepstakes winning moment to see how she was doing.

“Some winners wake up the next day, see the roses and balloons still there and realize, ’Gee I wasn’t dreaming.’ Did you have that feeling?” I asked.

“Yes!” Gay said. “I still can’t believe it, but I know it’s true!”

She told me how her phone hadn’t stopped ringing with calls from well-wishing friends, not to mention from her children and grandchildren. “Everyone has been so nice,” she said. “What a blessing this has been!”

Gay echoed the attitude I hear from virtually every winner of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes: a positive one. She never stopped believing that she could win – and that’s why she entered online and through the mail, time after time. When she got an email from PCH, she replied with another online entry, and – naturally -- her chances of winning kept improving. Just as yours will if you enter the sweepstakes every chance you get.

When I told Gay that she was still in the running for our big SuperPrize, $5,000 A Week for Life, she said, “Well that would be nice!” But she was obviously thrilled with her $10,000 cash prize.

Talk about thrills. As head of the PCH Prize Patrol I’ve awarded hundreds of sweepstakes prizes ranging from thousands to millions of dollars. Every winning moment is a thrill for me and a thrill for the winner every single time, regardless of the dollar amount.

Want to experience that thrill? And wake up the next morning and realize that it wasn’t a dream? Enter The Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes online, and – like Gay Fairris – enter often.

You can also visit PCHLotto.com, PCH Games.com, PCHSearch&Win.com and PCHScratchCards.com for even more chances to win.

With a positive attitude, you may be our next big cash winner!

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

PCH Prize Patrol Prepping For Super Sweepstakes Sur-Prize

While everyone who recently entered the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes is now on pins and needles waiting to see if he or she wins the $5,000.00 A Week for Life SuperPrize, the PCH Prize Patrol is preparing for the actual sweepstakes winning moment that will take place “who knows where” on Thursday, February 26th.

On Thursday morning, February 19, a week before the big PCH prize award day, Prize Patrol Executive Director Dave Sayer was spotted in an average American neighborhood, appearing to be practicing his presentation skills – not that he needs much rehearsal; he has awarded hundreds of big cash sweepstakes prizes totaling more than $210 million!

And, in the kind of seeming coincidence that could only happen in “reality TV-land,” another prize presenter also showed up in the very same area: Dave Price from The CBS Early Show. He was in Greensboro, North Carolina, to inform the Peays Family that they had been selected as finalists in The Early Show’s “Singing Family Face Off” competition.

The two Daves had met before in their years of being seen on TV. They thought it would be fun to stage a scene in which they were both preparing to award a prize, and just bumped into each other this way.

Click on this link to witness how the scene unfolded and what The Early Show’s huge national TV audience saw:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4812520n

The winner of the $5,000 A Week for Life SuperPrize will be announced on February 26th on The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and the actual sweepstakes winning moment will be viewable after 7:00 PM ET at pchtv.com.

How would you like to be surprised in front of the camera as the PCH Prize Patrol knocks on your door with another mind-blowing sweepstakes prize? It can happen to you -- as it has happened to a huge and growing family of Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes winners. Just enter the sweepstakes online or try playing our online games and you’ll be on your way!

Good luck!!

Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes Winner Announcement

Recently one of our PCH Blog readers asked when and where the $5,000 A Week For Life SuperPrize winner will be announced. In case you have the same question, you may be interested in reading our response, reprinted below.

Thank you for your interest in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes! Our plan is to announce the name of the $5,000 A Week For Life winner in a commercial announcement on the NBC Nightly News on Thurs., 2/26/09. Live action and behind the scenes footage of the sweepstakes winning moment will be shown on pchtv.com after 7:00 pm eastern time that very same evening.

Will you be the winner? Keep your fingers crossed!

Deborah Holland

Executive Vice President

Publishers Clearing House

Mom & Pop Shop Keeps its Roots Through Growth to National Fame

Did you know? Publishers Clearing House started in 1953 as a small mom-and-pop operation by a real mom and pop. That’s right, Harold and LuEsther Mertz, along with their daughter Joyce, conceived of the idea to offer discounted magazine subscriptions by mail.

The company was started in the basement of the Mertzes home in Port Washington, NY. Within five years, the founders built a three-story building on Main Street in Port Washington to accommodate the growing business.

When the sweepstakes was launched in 1967, it spurred another growth curve and a new headquarters was constructed in the same town, where Publishers Clearing House is still located today with its staff of over 400 full-time employees.

All the sweepstakes promotions, merchandise offers, magazine deals and online games are planned and managed from the same picturesque, waterfront location on the North Shore of Long Island, where the founders first established their roots.

The nationally famous PCH Prize Patrol members also have their offices in PCH’s Port Washington headquarters, and many of the company’s major sweepstakes prize winners have been invited there to tour the premises and meet the officers of the company and the employees.

I’ve gotten to personally meet many of our sweepstakes prize winners, and it’s a lot of fun! They’re such nice folks, and all of us here at PCH enjoy experiencing their joy and reliving the thrill of their winning moments.

Take it from me, and from every Publishers Clearing House employee who has met the winners, they’re real people, and the huge amounts of money they win give them the ability to make a real difference in their lives. If you enter the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes online or through the mail, maybe you’ll win, too!

Good luck,

Deborah Holland

Executive Vice President

Great Winner in Detroit Monday

Here’s some late-breaking news about a terrific sweepstakes winner story sent to Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes Headquarters by email from PCH Prize Patrol Executive Director, Dave Sayer. As you can see from his message (reproduced below), not only is Dave thrilled with the excited reaction of this latest contest winner, he’s also happy the local news covered the story. In addition, Dave, just like all the rest of here at Publishers Clearing House, is wondering what the sweepstakes winning moment will be like for our new $5,000 A Week for Life SuperPrize winner on February 26th. You can watch it on pchtv.com. But for now, here’s Dave’s email:

SUBJECT: Great Winner in Detroit Monday

We had a great $10,000 winner in Detroit yesterday. Turned out to be a very good story which the NBC affiliate covered as it happened, then they returned for a live remote at 6 pm. See link below for the local news video.

www.clickondetroit.com/video/18726980/index.html

Let's hope next week's SuperPrize goes like this.

Dave

Prize Patrol’s Dave Sayer is a Noted “Frequent Flier”

Every Tuesday, in the Business Section of The New York Times, there is a column about a “frequent flier,” some business person whose job takes him or her by air to a multitude of domestic and/or foreign destinations in the course of a year. The stories are always interesting and touch on such diverse endeavors as making handcrafted glassware, rock music, high-end baked goods, corporate social responsibility, and observing a strict kosher diet in the skies.

On February 16, the New York Times’ featured ”Frequent Flier” was Publishers Clearing House’s own Executive Director of the Prize Patrol, Dave Sayer.

Dave logs thousands of air miles each year awarding prizes – ranging in value from thousands to millions of dollars -- to winners of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. You may have thought that that Prize Patrol van you see on TV is the primary mode of transportation; but the prizes are so numerous and the distances so great that air travel is often a “must.”

Dave’s next destination will be the home of the winner of our $5,000 A Week for Life SuperPrize on February 26th. Who knows where that will be! If you’ve been entering online or by mail, maybe we will knock on your door. Whatever happens, you will be able to see the actual “winning moment” at PCHTV.com.

Read The New York Times column about Dave, then improve your chances of meeting Dave in person by entering the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes online! Good Luck!