Not bad for the price of one beer!
January 13, 2012By ALAN ERSKINE
MILDURA technology consultant Lane Appleby, 22, celebrated the end of a self-imposed alcohol-free month of October with a quick beer at the Gateway Hotel on Melbourne Cup Day…and is about $20,000 better off as a result.
CHEERS: Lane Appleby, right, celebrates his win with girlfriend Casey Richardson and good mate Stephen Adams.
Lane admits he is still finding it hard to believe he is one of five people Australia-wide to share in an estimated prize pool of more than $100,000 in a competition based around Carlton Dry beer.
“When they rang to tell me about the win, I thought they were having me on, and I rang them back to double check,” Lane said. “A public relations girl confirmed that I was one of the national winners.”
Lane, an IT consultant at SuniTAFE Mildura, had been ‘on the wagon’ for what was generally termed ‘Ocsober,’ partly to save a bit of money, and also because of a health pact he made with his house-mates, girlfriend Casey Richardson, 21, and good mate Stephen Adams, 22.
The schooner of Carlton Dry he had at the Gateway on Melbourne Cup Day was his first beer for a month.
He was given a ticket with a bar code, which he later entered into the nation-wide competition via the Carlton website, and promptly forgot all about it….until just before Christmas, when he got a call from a PR company, saying he was a “provisional” winner.
“All I had to do was find the ticket to confirm the prize,” he said. “I had a few anxious minutes racing around home until I located the ticket, I can tell you.”
Lane said the PR company had been in touch to sort out a few minor details, and he was told to expect his prize package to swing into effect by mid-January.
The trio will have their home rental (up to $550 a week) paid for a year, all power, water and other bills to a value of $2000 a month will be covered, they will get an Austar service worth $1200, the services of a cleaner for up to $1800 for the year, a stereo worth $700, a 40-inch LCD TV valued at $800, a Carlton Dry beer fridge, and two slabs of beer each month for 12 months.
“It is the first and only thing I have ever won,” Lane said. “I am a Lotto regular, and buy the occasional raffle ticket, but have never won anything…until now.”
And it couldn’t have come at a better time, with all three having been saving up since last July in readiness for a two-week holiday to Thailand in February.
“This really takes the pressure off,” Lane said. “With the rent and all bills taken care of, we can use the money we’ve saved to make the most of the holiday….and there will be a few cold beers waiting for us when we get back!”
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Mel – Hi Ian, Everyone is very imerpssed with the candour and humour of your photos – they really have captured the spirit of the day. All the best, Mel and Heather.June 4, 2008 – 6:54 pm