PCH ‘Winning Moments’ last 20 years and more
On our recent PCH Prize Patrol trip to Texas to surprise Colette Wallace with a Big Check for $10,000, I found myself just a short distance away from the site of a “classic winning moment”: the home of John and Barbara Cotter, winners of a Million Dollar SuperPrize back in November 1990. So a return non-surprise visit was “a must.”
If any winner takes the prize for keeping in touch with the Prize Patrol over the years it’s John Cotter. We have talked countless times on the phone, exchanged greeting cards and emails, gotten updates on their married daughter Andrea and her growing family, and congratulated John and Barbara on their Golden Wedding anniversary not long ago.
Soon after the Cotters won, they came to Publishers Clearing House’s headquarters in Port Washington, NY for a gala “winners weekend.” Our employees gathered to meet the lucky couple as we screened video highlights of our visit to their Texas home. There was a festive luncheon followed by a limo tour of Manhattan’s sights, an haute cuisine dinner, then a Broadway show (the then-smash “Les Miserables”) and a suite at a deluxe hotel. Not too long after that the Cotters joined us for a big Texas-style winners’ jamboree of PCH Millionaire-winners at a ranch outside Dallas.
It was a joy to reunite with the Cotters at their home and reminisce about that memorable day when we came to call, when Barbara — nursing the flu in bed — came to the door with little grandson Christian who was dressed in a little Batman shirt. (Now, fully grown and a prize-winning singer, Chris is pursuing an operatic career in New York.) Barbara just about fainted when she saw us with roses, balloons, champagne and a Big Check that declared John a “$1 Million SuperPrize Winner.” That “winning moment” has appeared in many a PCH TV commercial over the years. John remains very thankful that he had the good sense to enter our fabulous sweepstakes a few weeks before our visit. Best of all he says the prize has enabled them to help their family in ways they could not have done otherwise.
Unlike the first time when Barbara answered the door in a nightgown, on this visit she was beautifully prepared and greeted me as if I were family. And in a way I guess we are. We have a huge family of winners nowadays, and it’s always a thrill to welcome someone new.
How about you? Would you like to “join the family”? You can start by entering the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes right now. Just click on this link to pch.com. And enter every chance you get. That way you’ll have a more chances of winning – and welcoming the Prize Patrol to your door.
Good luck!
Dave Sayer
Executive Director
PCH PRIZE PATROL
