LIHUE — When the message came through on Aileen Higashi’s phone that she had won a trip for two to Las Vegas, she had her doubts it was the real thing.
“To be honest with you, I was thinking maybe this is a scam,” she said Thursday.
But she called the number back to The Garden Island office and learned that, yes, it was the real thing, and she had won a trip for two to Las Vegas.
“I was shocked. I was shocked that they pulled my name,” said a smiling Aileen with husband Dennis seated next to her.
The Garden Island and Kauai Midweek newspapers, owned and operated by Oahu Publications Inc., recently offered a trip for two to Las Vegas. To win, all a person had to do was fill out an entry form in the Holiday Gift Guide that came out in TGI on Thanksgiving and in that week’s Midweek, and turn it in at center stage of Kukui Grove Center.
The winner was selected at random from the hundreds of entries received. The prize includes airfare for two, hotel accommodations and meals.
It was actually Dennis who filled out the form for his wife and dropped it off. His efforts will be rewarded, said Aileen.
“He’s number two. He’s going on the trip,” she said, laughing.
Aileen said they’ve won a few prizes over the years, but this is the biggest. Dennis, however, said he’s not the lucky one in drawings or giveaways.
“No, not me,” he said. “She does.”
The Higashis visit Vegas a few times a year. With this trip for two, they plan to go next spring with relatives.
Aileen prefers the slots, while Dennis likes to try his luck at poker and the craps table, a game where someone with the hot hand can be throwing the dice to enthusiastic cheers of an appreciative crowd for an hour or so.
“I’m still hoping for the one-hour roll,” he said.
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Bill Buley, editor-in-chief, can be reached at 245-0457 or bbuley@thegardenisland.com.
