Online Sweepstakes Winner Joe Beane Surprised to See the PCH Prize Patrol
The week of August 31st was a busy one for the PCH Prize Patrol, as they experienced three different time zones in four days! On Monday August, 30th, the Prize Patrol met out west, in Las Vegas, to award the $1 million SuperPrize. The location and name of the winners is kept secret until the last minute so booking of the plane tickets and hotel rooms for the Prize Patrol is always a scramble.
This time around, our $1 Million SuperPrize sweepstakes winner was Joe Beane! That much the Prize Patrol knew upon leaving. Finding Joe, however, took a little more effort. After the first night in Vegas, the Prize Patrol and media met at the North Entrance of their hotel, dishing out directions to Joe’s house while intrigued visitors stopped to watch. They drove for about 15 minutes before they arrived at his house, knocked on the door and realized that they showed up at his previous residence.
So how did they find Mr. Joe Beane? Well, a member of the Prize Patrol called a listed number he had claiming to be “Joe the UPS guy.” He informed Mr. Beane that we had a package for him and asked where it can be delivered. He was in the middle of his work day, delivering the mail. He decided to wait for his “UPS package” in a 7-Eleven parking lot, while the Prize Patrol followed the local news van across town to find him.
The Prize Patrol pulled into the parking lot on the other side of the building and quickly debated the best way to surprise him. They went around the building, champagne, flowers, balloons and giant check in hand and snuck over to Joe, patiently waiting in his mail truck. When he saw the Prize Patrol and what they had to give him, he was in shock. He even asked if anyone had put the Prize Patrol up to this, thinking it might be a trick. But to everyone’s delight, it was, in fact, the real thing.
The Prize Patrol and Joe then went into a nearby restaurant to sign some paperwork. They should change the postal employee saying to “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail, nor Million Dollar SuperPrize shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds,” because Joe proclaimed that he needed to finish delivering his mail to the people of Las Vegas. That’s a dedicated worker if I’ve ever heard of one.
