By Lisa Baldwin
BATTLE MOUNTAIN - The Colt Casino held its second-annual Supermarket Sweep contest to benefit Battle Mountain residents with a three-minute grocery shopping spree on Monday, Dec. 19.
According to Colt Casino Manager Wanda Nelson, she came up with the idea as "After all, what could be better than taking home a big shopping cart full of free groceries, just in time for Christmas?"
Midway Market once again participated in the Supermarket Sweep this year. Owner Mark Lake said that he thought it was a great idea when initially approached by Nelson to see if he would be interested in allowing the winners to do their shopping at his grocery store. He went on to say that he thinks it is a wonderful way to help out others and help stimulate the local economy. The drawing was held at the Colt Casino at 8 p.m. on Dec. 19. Nelson stated that entrants must be present to win. The winners for this year's drawing were Kelly Down, Irving Vance and Leonard Dennis. Nelson stated that Colt Casino employees Amelia Griffith and Mayra Martinez would be participating on behalf of a local family in need.
After the drawing, the winners, as well as several Colt employees, made their way to Midway Market where the Supermarket Sweep would take place. Once there, Nelson welcomed and congratulated the winners. She then went on to explain the basic rules to those gathered in the store.
"You (the winner) will be the shopper, and you are the only one who can put items into the shopping cart," she said. "Your driver is only allowed to push the cart, they are not allowed to put anything into the cart. You may grab anything in the store except alcohol or tobacco products. Only two of each item is permitted. There are some items displayed in the aisles, so please try to watch where you are going and not knock things over and make a mess. "We will have empty carts on hand for those of you who fill up your first shopping cart," Nelson continued. "You can just push it up to one of the check stands and grab another cart and continue shopping until your three minutes are up. Once everyone is done, we will have one of the ladies ring up your groceries."
She then said that they would have two of the winners go shopping at the same time, followed by the other winner and the Colt employees.
In less than 20 minutes, from start to finish, four individuals were able to take over $1,500 worth of groceries home.
Down said this was the first time he had won anything like this contest before. His friend Jeffrey King pushed the cart while Down did the shopping. Down said he was going to focus on getting a variety of meat, coffee and other essentials. He managed to fill his cart with $237.90 worth of groceries.
Vance was able to fill his cart up with merchandise valued at $377.62, while Jewel Vance pushed the cart. He focused on getting a ham and turkey, potatoes, paper towels and laundry soap, as well as many other products.
Dennis' wife Marie was happy to push the cart as he breezed through Midway Market selecting specific items. He said some of the items he was aiming to get were dog food, cereal and lots of meat and potatoes. Dennis' cart totaled $319.95.
Griffith and Martinez were said to have already scoped out the store on several occasions, locating specific items for the single mother and her children. Both women said they were happy to be able to help someone out, especially during the holidays. Griffith and Martinez packed a whopping $593.12 into two different shopping carts. The duo made the most of their shopping excursion, grabbing bricks of cheese, diapers, laundry detergent, sugar, rice, milk, potatoes, turkeys and bunches of meat.
Nelson congratulated each of them on first winning the contest and also on making such great purchases. On behalf of the Colt Casino and Midway Market, Nelson wished everyone a very Merry Christmas.
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