On Thursday morning the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol came to town. They were looking for Mrs. Cindy Milliron. After picking up a dozen roses, and a big bundle of balloons from Four Seasons Florist on Wilma Rudolph Blvd, we loaded up and headed to her home.
The prize is part of a nationwide blitz, with one lucky winner in each of 101 cities. “Some folks don’t believe that we are “for real” or that we really give away real big checks” said Dave Sayer, the Prize Patrol Chief who appears in the company’s TV commercials. “All across the country we’re awarding 101 “Reality Checks” of $10,000 each – We are giving away over a million dollars – to show that winning at Publishers Clearing House and pch.com is a definite reality.”
With so much geography to cover in the space of a few days, Publishers Clearing House employees Al Guerra and Sheryl Schlameuss were part of a group of 60 deputized to help deliver scores of prizes from coast to coast. This was to be their third delivery in the last few days. They had already awarded prizes in Columbus IN, and Lebanon Junction KY.
In each case, there was a chance that the person who won would not be home. If that occurred the Prize Patrol deputies would endeavor to track the winner down. ” We interview the winners neighbors and ascertain where the person was and when they would return. If the person was at work the prize patrol would make the delivery there.” said Al Guerra. “Workplace deliveries are so exciting, there are usually so many people around” said Sheryl Schlameuss, “On one delivery the winner was a teacher, and the principal allowed us to make the delivery at the school in front of her students, it was a lot of fun!”
We arrived at the address for Mrs Milliron, and moved up to the door to award the prize. It turned out that she wasn’t home, and after getting our hopes up for a workplace delivery, we found out from a her landlord Gary R. Lehman that she had recently relocated when her husband a military contractor was transferred from Fort Campbell, KY to Fort Rucker, AL.
The Prize patrol deputies were able to reach her via telephone and made the official notification via telephone.
This week’s winners are still eligible to win in the much bigger multi-million dollar giveaways. Consumers can enter by responding to company mailings, or by going online to their increasingly popular website, pch.com where prizes are awarded each day.
About Publishers Clearing House
Publishers Clearing House is a multi-channel direct marketer of magazine subscriptions and merchandise. They were founded in Port Washington NY in 1953. Its name has become synonymous with the sweepstakes and prizes it has used since 1967 to draw attention to the “unbeatable” deals and values offered in their colorful mailings. Nearly half of Publishers Clearing House profits are donated to charitable causes ranging from Social Services to the Environment.
