This is a real miracle story. My Dad is a compere/quiz master but his true career is lifting people’s spirits. At the age of 78 he shows no sign of retiring! Many years ago in Anderson’s Bay, Dunedin, New Zealand… in a supermarket called ‘Woolworths’ he was doing his usual give-away show….
These are his own words (an excerpt from his book):
One dream ending to a give-away occasion happened at a Woolworths Supermarket opening at Andersons Bay Dunedin. My roving commission took me up and down the aisles to locate winners for a variety of prizes, some supplied by Woolies others from my stable of sponsors. I suddenly espied this old tramp of a character, sporting a great pack on his back, and about a years growth of beard sprouting from a ruddy smiling face. Here was an instant target. Hitting my mini hooter I loudly proclaimed he was standing in the Lucky Spot zone and due for a Jackpot pay-out. The crowd gathered around as prizes were piled in his direction – Colgate Toothpaste, Palmolive Soap, chocolates, cigarettes, canned fruit, biscuits, bacon, sausages, the more that was pushed into his pack and into his pockets the broader his smile became. And slowly, tears started to trickle down his cheeks. As he trudged away totally laden with goodies (even a Gillette razor) all the sales ladies within earshot were bawling their eyes out too. That without any doubt was my most pleasurable moment over a lifetime in this give-away game. Other contestants had won houses, holidays, motor-cars and every kind of household appliance – but never had anyone looked as elated as the man we labelled the Back-packer Champion of New Zealand. He’d surely have died since but hopefully with that smile still on his face.
