Luck, participation and the power of positive thinking all played a part in a local woman winning $10,000 over the Labor Day holiday.
Longtime Hailey resident Julie Wiethorn said she entered Coldwell Banker's Previews International—Conklin & Co. $10,000 cash giveaway after seeing an ad for it in the Idaho Mountain Express.
"The ad said 'don't miss your chance to win' and I thought I have to show up and participate," Wiethorn said. "So, I went to some open houses and put my name in."
The contest was part the company's Parade of Homes campaign, which ran for 100 days throughout the summer. Participant's names were entered into the drawing each time they attended an open house.
"It's rare that we get to do something that is so much fun," broker Todd Conklin said.
Wiethorn said that all along she felt there was a strong possibility that she would win the money. On Saturday, Sept. 5, before the Wagon Days parade, she drove to Ketchum from Bellevue because she felt it would be rude not to be present if they called her name.
<
"When they called my name it was a strange combination of surprise and knowing. The feeling was just sublime," Wiethorn said. "I do feel that I don't need the money more than anyone else, or deserve it more than anyone else, but no one could be more grateful than I am. I can't underestimate the timing."
Wiethorn said she is facing having to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills and the money could not have come at a better time.
"It's just very humbling," she said. "It makes you go, wow!"