A Powerful Winning Moment – In More Ways Than One
The morning of December 30th found the PCH Prize Patrol in Farmington, New Mexico, a one hour drive from Durango, Colorado, where we had flown into the night before. Our mission was to surprise Laurie Aragon with a Big Check — for a Million Dollars!
We found her address all right, a mobile home on the outskirts of town. But no one answered our repeated knocks on the door. We went to neighbors to see what help they could provide. That’s when Laurie was able to look out the window and see the colorful PCH balloons and realize that the callers were not bill collectors but – OMG! – the Prize Patrol! Quickly she grabbed her two year old grandson and came running out on the porch — where we handed her roses and announced “You’ve won a Million Dollars in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes!” (We gave the balloons to little Emilliano who was much more interested in them than in anything else.)
“Thank you, thank you, thank you” Laurie said as she accepted the Big Check and a first installment check for $25,000 to show we were “for real.”
“I never thought it would be me,” she said, even though she had been entering the PCH Sweepstakes religiously, even prayerfully, for a long time.
What will she do first with such a giant cash windfall? “Pay bills, then I’d love a vacation” she said. That would be a very welcome blessing for this mother of a son (in college) and two daughters and a grandmother of two who has been out of work for five months.
As the Prize Patrol was about to leave, the local power company pulled up to shut off Laurie’s electricity for lack of payment. The utility guys got a big laugh when they saw the Big Check for $1,000,000 and realized they didn’t have to shut off Laurie’s power. Yep, the Prize Patrol arrived just in the nick of time!
In a follow-up phone call, Laurie told us that her family and friends were absolutely thrilled for her good fortune. “You deserve it,” they said – as they enjoyed an out-to-dinner party hosted by our newest SuperPrize Winner.
Congratulations Laurie, and welcome to our huge and ever-growing family of winners! And to the rest of you, enter every chance you get and you could become a winner too.
Dave Sayer
PCH Prize Patrol Ambassador
P.S. Remember we asked you fans to vote on what surprise item you wanted us to bring to the delivery? Well, we read through all your comments and most of you told us that you wanted us to bring a mystery gift. We decided on some adorable stuffed animals for Laurie’s grandchildren and a big box of chocolates for her! They loved them.
