Being longtime Herald readers pays off for couple

Published 9:58 pm Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Clare and Charlotte Petersen were driving a 1991 Jeep Cherokee and 1991 Mercury Capri. Both cars ran fine, but who couldn’t use a new buggy?

So Charlotte Petersen entered a contest to win a car. Like thousands of others, she waited and waited for the winner to be announced.

When Herald Marketing Supervisor Tracie Leese called the house and asked for “Mr. Clare Petersen,” his wife knew immediately that a new 2009 Chevrolet Aveo would soon be parked in the driveway.

The Granite Falls couple won a contest that kept readers clipping newspapers from July into September.

The Petersens said they’ve subscribed to The Herald forever. He reads the newspaper methodically, front to back. They love the comics and Charlotte Petersen tackles the daily crossword puzzle.

He grew up in Granite Falls. She’s from Lake Stevens. They knew one another but never dated. They started courting after he got out of the Army and she completed service with the Peace Corps.

They got hitched in a hurry 42 years ago so they could move to Hawaii when she was transferred there with a government job.

She worked for Social Security, she said. They lived in Hawaii a couple of times through the years and got the travel bug. They’ve been to Australia and Tahiti.

Clare Petersen owned a service station in Granite Falls and retired from the Granite Falls School District as a custodian.

The Summer Driveaway Giveaway grand prize was donated by Blade Chevrolet. Readers searched for entry forms in the paper every day for eight weeks. In order to complete the form, they had to look for a “Win This Car!” classified ad, note the page number and date and write the information on the entry.

The contest clicked with more than 27,000 entries.

For those who thought embellishments would help their entry get drawn, forget about it. Leese said some folks wrote “Pick me” on their entries, clipped them with a fringed edge, stapled cardboard for weight or included notes about why they should win.

Charlotte Petersen sent in more than 20 entries trying to win the car that was worth $15,780. She missed a few days when they drove to Winthrop. She often enters contests, she said, but this is the biggest prize they’ve won.

When she entered in her husband’s name, she put “Mr. Clare Petersen,” so recipients knew he was a man. They picked up the car from the dealership in Mount Vernon.

It was red, the same as both of their 1991 vehicles. The Aveo had less than 100 miles on it. It had only been driven to be displayed at the fair in Monroe.

Just like winners on the “The Price is Right” game show, the Petersens had to pay the tax and license fees, in this case, almost $1,600.

“Everything about winning the car has been wonderful,” Charlotte Peterson said. “We have gotten many congratulations, even from people who say they entered the contest, too.”

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.