Prize Saint John man who owned clunker wins the Telegraph-Journal's car giveaway

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SANDRA DAVIS
Telegraph-Journal

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SAINT JOHN - Joseph Martell's 1999 Grand Am was entering the "clunker" stage, so when he, said Wendy Martindale of the museum spotted the Auto Mania Contest in the Telegraph-Journal, he was in. His many entries in the contest mark the first time he had entered anything, but it probably won't be his last.

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KâtÈ LeBlanc/Telegraph-Journal

Joe Martell is the winner of the $20,000 auto voucher and plans to use it at Fundy Honda. Martell likes the Civics.

Matthew Sherwood/Telegraph-Journal

People search through the Telegraph-Journal to find the car-give-away ad on Saturday. The first six to locate it won a door prize. People gathered at Harbour Station to hear the winning name of the contestant won a $20,000 car voucher. In the front row, from left, Jim Cleveland, Paula Ring, Linda Clark, Joseph McLaughlin and Debbie Clark.

Matthew Sherwood/Telegraph-Journal

Contestants gaze through the window of the car holding around 60,000 tickets for the auto voucher at Harbour Station.

His name was drawn on Saturday morning and today, Martell has a $20,000 voucher and his pick of six dealerships from which to choose his vehicle.

"Oh my God, he's gonna flip when I tell him," said his wife, Dianne, when she answered the phone at the couple's Hampton home.

"We definitely need a new car."

Martell wasn't among the 500 or so people who gathered at Harbour Station on Saturday morning for the draw. Instead, he was at home, helping his son build a deck.

"Wow!" the 61-year-old retiree said when told he'd won the voucher.

"I never thought I would win. I've never won anything in my life!"

The Telegraph-Journal's Auto Mania Contest has been the most popular newspaper contest yet, the newspaper's general manager Michele Horncastle said.

"We had 60,000 entries. We've had letters from people who loved it!" she said. "We had an unbelievable response!"

For three months, ads in the newspaper were published three days a week containing hidden letters that spelled the word "Auto". Entrants could submit ballots as often as they liked; if their name was drawn and they had discovered the concealed letters - which were different daily - they won the voucher.

Luckily for Martell, the first name Horncastle drew from the mountain of ballots stashed in the back of a Telegraph-Journal vehicle had not solved the puzzle correctly; Martell's was the second name drawn.

Horncastle said she didn't have any particular strategy for drawing the name: "I just kind of stirred them all up and went towards the bottom," she said.

Martell's win marked the climax of a morning of fun and free draws offered on Saturday by the Telegraph-Journal; lawnchairs in a bag, caps, T-shirts, balls, car-wash kits and gift certificates - including a $250 gas coupon, won by David Campbell of Saint John - all contributed to the festival atmosphere. There were balloons, face-painting, colouring contests and free food and drink all morning.

The six dealers who participated in the contest with the Telegraph-Journal all had vehicles on display and now Martell must decide on a new vehicle from Aberdeen Suzuki, Fundy Honda, Kia, Lancaster Vehicle Centre, Downey Ford or King Mazda.

"I'd like to go to Honda and see what they have there," he said, "I'd like an Accord but I don't know the price range."

The Telegraph-Journal fun isn't over yet; the next giveaway will be a "Staycation" vacation in New Brunswick, with $500 in gas, the prize for discovering the gas nozzle buried in the ad.

And stay tuned for the next Auto Mania Contest. Horncastle is planning on making the popular contest an annual event.