Winning Ways

By CHRIS HARRIS, CJ Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal

June 18, 2008 08:43 pm

— Sherry Tucker wants to replace some of the appliances in her home. Thanks to the DIY Network, she has plenty of money to do it with.
Tucker, a resident of Eubank, won $10,000 worth of gift cards from the Home Depot chain of hardware and home improvement stores in an on-line contest sponsored by DIY, short for “do it yourself.”
“I never dreamed that I would win,” said Tucker. “It means a lot to me.”
A television channel founded in 1999, DIY is associated with the highly popular HGTV (Home and Garden Television) and provides programming associated with domestic repair and decoration. The contest was associated with the show, “Sweat Equity,” which provides information about how to increase the value of your home in a Reality TV entertainment format.
Tucker is a fan of DIY’s programming, which is how she found out about the contest. “I love all the fixer-upper shows,” she said. “The helpful hints, ways to do things, how you can save money but make your house’s value go up. It’s interesting.”
It was on the network’s Web site, www.diynetwork.com, that Tucker entered her personal information for a chance to win something in the “Sweat Equity Challenge Sweepstakes.” Additionally, Tucker answered a question about information on a recent “Sweat Equity” episode, though she said that wasn’t required to win the prize.
There were 42 daily winners — that is, one a day for a month and a half — who would each win a Home Depot card valued at $1,000. Five weekly winners would get the $10,000 card, and one grand prize winner would recieve a $100,000 cash prize.
Tucker wasn’t the big winner — but she’s more than happy with the weekly sweepstakes card.
“I had just entered (the contest) and looked at the list of daily winners,” said Tucker. “I scrolled down see if anyone from Kentucky won, and at the very bottom I spotted ‘Eubank, Ky.’ I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, someone from Eubank won!’
“Once I saw my name, I just sat there with my cup of coffee and looked at it (the screen),” she added. “I couldn’t speak for a little while. It was a really neat way to find out.”
Tucker came up big in the June 2 drawing — the last of the weekly opportunities. Tucker recalled wondering aloud to her husband, Johnnie, how they would be notified, as there hadn’t been a phone call or any other direct notification of the good news.
That’s when Johnnie remembered — a FedEx package had just arrived that day. Indeed, it contained one pricey gift card, courtesy of the DIY Network.
It came at a good time for the Tuckers. Sherry Tucker said their home, now almost two decades old, needs new appliances, as the old ones that they used when they first moved in are getting a little bit worse for the wear.
“They’re having to slowly be replaced,” said Tucker. “It’s tough replacing all that stuff as it wears out, so this is going to help a lot.”
Tucker specifically mentioned a new refrigerator and stove as items high on her wish list.
While the gift card might seem like a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of good luck, this sort of thing is actually old hat to Tucker. She won a 57-inch-screen television in a contest sponsored by the General Cigar Company two years ago. She’s also a frequent participant in local radio and television contests – the sort of thing where the 100th caller wins — and has claimed a number of prizes that way. She won her first such giveaway nearly 25 years ago at the age of 21 — and now that her daughter, Brittany, is around the same age, Tucker jokes that maybe she can pass her lucky ways on down to the next generation.
Even being in the immediate vicinity of Tucker produces good fortune. Tucker recalled one time when she was in a contest to see whose key worked in a car’s ignition — the lucky winner got the sweet ride. Tucker didn’t take home the prize this time, but the woman only three people in line behind her did.
“I was tickled for her,” said Tucker. “Somebody has to win.”
Is there a secret strategy to Tucker’s sweepstakes success? It’s simple math, as it turns out.
“The odds are only against you,” she notes, “if you don’t enter.”

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