ISSUE 7 > AUTUMN 2012
MARGARET DRIVES AWAY A WINNER fROM ESSENDON fIELDS ELIZABETH REDMAN Margaret Brown was taking her sister to the airport when she missed a phone call from an unfamiliar number. She called back straight away, thinking it might be something to do with one of her sons, but instead was surprised with the fabulous news that she had won a car from Essendon Fields Shopping Centre. “I actually just didn’t believe it at first. I asked, are you sure you’ve spun the barrel?” Margaret recalls with a laugh. She had entered the competition run at Essendon Fields Shopping Centre without expecting
too much, let alone to win. It was simple enough, all she had to do was shop at six out of the nine participating retailers over a six-week period, collect tokens from them and complete an entry form. “I didn’t feel I was buying anything extra that I was going out of my way to buy. It was just a matter of visiting the shops I normally go to and getting a little sticker for my entry form.” “The boys and I go up to Essendon Fields at least once a week anyway to do our groceries at Coles,” Margaret adds. “Our routine is to always go into Blue Denim and get a drink for them and a coffee for me. During the school holidays we tend to go to Essendon Fields more often. We have lunch there,
whether it’s at Nando’s or Subway or at one of the other food outlets.” Other participating retailers included Hip Home Ideas, J’Vons, Ookii Sushi, Power Cutz, Skin Scentual, and Top One Bakery. Although the competition was promoted through mobile billboard scooters and on the Essendon Fields Facebook page, it was Margaret’s two sons who encouraged her to enter. “The boys were so keen, so I said let’s just go for it then.” “I’m one of those people who never thinks I’m ever going to win anything,” Margaret says. “You win little things every now and then, like a CD or something small, but I’ve never won anything as big as this, ever.”
The prize was a car of the winner’s choice from any dealership at AutoCentro, a one-stop shopping strip of car dealerships on Wirraway Road located at Essendon Fields. The winner had the choice of any car from the Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Ford, Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Hyundai or VW dealerships up to the value of $18,000 with the complements of Essendon Fields. Winning the car came at a good time as Margaret and her husband had been thinking about replacing his car. “It was a ’98 car that was feeling and looking its age. We were considering changing over the car within the next twelve months or so. This was just an early bonus.”