A trip to California yields three more vacations for a Punxsutawney woman when she wins big on “The Price Is Right.”
We have more on her road to the “showcase showdown.”
Producers interview the contestants before the show, and this fan says she was enthusiastic about her job. Soon, out of about 250 people, she was the big winner.
We had Vickie Amundson flip on the end of “The Price Is Right” on Tuesday. She says when she was in the audience, she briefly thought it was all over.
Her son had won $10,000 during a trip five years ago. This time, she took her stepdaughter and husband, ordering tickets ahead of time for two tapings.
“You just think, well it’s the end of the show. We’re having fun, and this is fun no matter whether we get picked or not,” says Amundson, 56, Punxsutawney.
Suddenly, the cue-card came up saying Vickie. She was the last of nine contestants, wearing a pink T-shirt with Punxsutawney Phil printed on it and a groundhog stuffed animal on her shoulder.
“Come on down and I jumped up and took my Phil picture with me and my Sharpie,” says Amundson.
She was in contestants’ row, bidding on luggage. It was her only chance to bid.
“My go-to bid is $1,250, but for some reason, I said $1,300, because I knew the luggage would be more than the $1,250,” says Amundson.
She was almost exactly right — off by $20. Next came the Flip Flop game.
“I just closed my eyes and pushed the button,” says Amundson.
Spinning the wheel, she says she was only nervous trying to remember everyone to say “hi” to.
With $0.55 and $0.30 rolls, she was in.
When the stewardess next to her got trips, she had a feeling her fellow contestant would pass the showcase, and she did. Vickie looked to her husband in the audience.
“I had $22,000 in mind, but he had 23, and I thought, I’m going with him because that way if I’m wrong, I can blame it on him!” says Amundson.
It was about $24,500, close enough to win.
“First I hugged her and because I felt bad, and then I just kind of stood there. I was kind of stunned,” says Amundson, who later started hugging people.
Her friends at the nursing home where’s she’s activities director had to wait three months to see the show that aired last Tuesday.
“We had no idea what the outcome was going to be. She wasn’t able to tell anyone, including her family,” says Mulberry Square administrator Laura Deet.
“People were cheering and clapping their hands,” says resident Fred Kerr.
Amundson says she won trips to Denmark, China, Hilton Head Island, luggage, and a camera, totaling $32,000 in prizes.
They went back the next day and the stepdaughter was called up, but didn’t win anything. They also went to “Let’s Make A Deal” during their visit to California.
