Midd. man surprised by $10,000 from PCH Sweepstakes Prize Patrol

MIDDLEBURY | It was reminiscent of Golden Age TV — vintage 1960s "Candid Camera" or the 1950s TV series "The Millionaire", where a man shows up at the back door and presents a bewildered homeowner with a nice, sweet, five-digit bank check to spend as you like — no strings attached. In this case, it wasn't "Candid Camera" host Allen Funt or the fictional, fabulously wealthy deceased John Beresford Tipton's executor Michael Anthony who showed up at the door; instead, it was Publishing Clearing House's (PCH) Howie Guja from the popular online game network's HQ based in Jericho on Long Island, New York. In our story, the happy recipient of the PCH Prize Patrol was Thomas Ketcham of Middlebury. He just won $10,000 in the PCH Sweepstakes for March. PCH is a household name for TV viewers who have followed the company's Prize Patrol since the 1980s. The famous "gotcha" in-person prizes are funded by company revenues; no purchase is ever necessary to enter or win. And no, the late NBC-TV "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon was never a PCH pitchman, according to Guja. McMahon had worked for a competitor, American Family Publishers, which is no longer in business. Guja arrived, with a PCH video cameraman, at the doorstep of Middlebury resident Thomas Ketcham, a former Otter Valley Union High School history teacher, with a supersized check (and the smaller, real deal) for $10,000. March 11 was Ketcham's lucky day; his daily playing the PCH sweepstakes online had finally paid off. When Guja's PCH Prize Patrol dropped by at Ketcham's Middlebury house, the prize winner wasn't home. But just as Guja was about to ask a neighbor where Mr. Prize Winner might be, Ketcham arrived in the driveway in his Subaru wagon. He just returned home after visiting his daughter in Sudbury for the morning. Ketcham jumped out of his car and immediately knew he won something. Guja flashed the giant check. "Wow, wow, I think it's great," Ketcham said when Guja handed him the real, albeit smaller bank check. "I am so glad I kept entering the sweepstakes." Apparently, when Ketcham saw several cars parked in front of his house, he thought there must have been a road accident. But then it dawned on him: "I think I won the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes." Ketcham told PCH's Guja that his wife Judith Comfort had chided him about the long shot of winning, but Thomas was right in the end; Judith's husband's persistence paid off to the tune of $10k. Ketcham said he met and married Judith five years ago while they were washing dishes at a St. Stephen's Episcopal Church community supper. "Well, I have to call Judith now," Ketcham announced. And while Guja and the PCH cameraman stood by, following the presentation of the check, Ketcham used his cellphone to call Judith who was in town shopping. "I won! I won a $10,000 check from Publisher's Clearing House," Thomas announced to his wife. "Oh, my gosh," replied Judith. "You're kidding? Text me a picture of the check now!" Within minutes, Guja transmitted a digital image of the check to Judith's cellphone. She immediately opened the image file. "This is amazing, absolutely wonderful," she exclaimed. "But it's his money and he can do what he wants with it." Thomas smiled. Guja departed the driveway with a beaming Ketcham holding his $10,000 check and a dozen roses, purchased by Guja, from Cole's Flowers, just for Judith. Yes, there was some financial advice to pass along from Middlebury's lucky prizewinner. "I won $10,000. If it happened to me, it can happen to anyone," Ketcham said.

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Midd. man surprised by $10,000 from PCH Sweepstakes Prize Patrol

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