Tammy Smith of Jefferson cashed in once as a finalist in the Our Iowa Keys to the Kitchen Contest but she wasn’t lucky enough to win the big prize on Saturday.
On April 19, Smith raced through the Fareway Store in Jefferson on a two-minute dash to load all the groceries she could grab into a cart. She headed right to the meat counter where she seized hams, steaks and loins. Then it was over to the frozen food department for shrimp, meat patties, crab and other products.
All totaled, Smith took home $1,090.16 in products as one of the Our Iowa semi-finalists.
She earned the honor by finding a hidden key in the magazine and submitting the correct entry. Her name was drawn out of thousands of entries.
In every issue of the magazine this year, another winner was announced. The six ladies picked met in Ames at Reiman Gardens on Saturday for a luncheon and to determine who the big winner would be.
The finalists were Karen Cummins of Blue Grass, Margaret O’Connell of Delhi, Joan Martin of Schaller, Sherry Johnson of Nevada, Sherrie Schafbuch of Belle Plaine and Smith.
Editor Jerry Wiebel welcomed the six contestants and their guests and shared information about the successful magazine. In seven years, Our Iowa’s circulation has grown to 90,000 paid subscribers and is the fasted growing magazine in the state.
Wiebel listed numerous reasons for the success of the magazine including their insistence “that we have to be different. Not like any other magazines.” Another reason is the unique contests like the best barber in the state (“Who better to talk about this magazine than a barber?”) and the tall corn competition.
Then they gave away the keys to Mini Cooper cars and the proceeds off a five acre plot of farmland south of Ames.
That lead up to the most recent kitchen contest which was also a big success and generated a lot of interest. “We’ve had a lot of fun with it,” explained Wiebel. “A lot of people have talked about it.”
He even shared the grand prize of the next contest: the summer-long rental of a cabin in 2016 in scenic Allamakee County. That contest will be announced in the February / March issue which they are working on now. It will also involve finding a key, but he didn’t reveal any details.
“It has to have a soul, a reason for being,” noted Wiebel about the magazine. “It needs to have a purpose and to celebrate what’s grand about living in the state of Iowa. It’s your magazine.”
After lunch, the contestants nervously drew for numbers, one to six, out of a bowl to determine the order of competition. Wiebel demonstrated that one key would open the door and then dropped that key into a large plastic bowl full of non-working keys. He mixed and stirred them before the key-drawing began.
Smith drew lucky number six so was the last to pick a key in each round. The first key she drew went into the lock . . . but it wouldn’t turn the latch. Round after round went by. Five rounds and 30 keys did not open the door.
On the sixth round, Joan Martin of Schaller joked and danced her way toward the door. She picked a another key and it went into the lock. When she jiggled it just a little, the latch turned and the door opened. Joan squealed in delight and threw open her arms in success. She was the lucky winner!
No one went home empty-handed as all six contestants received gift bags.
“This was fun,” said Smith after the event. “I wanted to win but that’s the way it goes. It’s been a good experience.” ~The Scranton Journal
