The last prize Vicky Sharpe remembers winning was a walkman from Rainbow's End when she was 13 years old.
"Which was really cool then, I was thrilled, but it's been a long time since then without ever winning anything."
All that changed last week, when Vicky and her husband Selwyn were drawn as the lucky winners of the Stratford Press Fill Your Freezer promotion.
The couple won a 315 litre Beko Chest Freezer provided by Dimocks Stratford and a $1000 New World voucher supplied by Stratford New World.
"It's a brilliant prize, I think it beats that walkman."
Vicky says she and Selwyn had talked about the promotion while it was running.
"We were in New World and said what a good prize it was, but still, never honestly imagined we would win it."
I think it is nice when it is local people. You always wonder who wins these big prizes don't you? We are both really grateful to all the businesses who supported this promotion as well by signing up and getting involved, and of course the main sponsors Dimocks and New World who provided such a great prize."
The couple say they will enjoy filling their new freezer with plenty of groceries from Stratford New World.
"We plan to use it for our weekly grocery shop until it runs out, and in the meantime, put the money we would have spent on groceries into our savings account, so it is a double win really as it will help us save as well."
Vicky says she was certainly caught by surprise when the NZME team turned up on her doorstep last Tuesday morning and filmed her reaction on being told she and Selwyn had won the prize.
"Nearly 4000 people have seen me in my pyjamas now!"
Vicky was up but not dressed when the promotions team knocked on her door, and with the video of her receiving the news of her win now on the Stratford Press Facebook page, "more people have seen me in my jammies than ever needed to!" she says.
Vicky and Selwyn had only arrived back in Taranaki the night before, having been in Waikato with her father who was in hospital there.
"We'd needed a bit of good luck, it had been a tough few weeks," says Selwyn, who himself had been diagnosed with diabetes just a few weeks beforehand.
The couple are both thrilled with their win, and plan to share the good fortune by passing on their own old chest freezer to a family member.
"We actually got that chest freezer from my parents about seven or eight years ago," says Vicky.
Selwyn says when Vicky called him at Leppers Piggery where he works to tell him the news, he was driving a forklift.
"So I rang her back, and after she told me, I went back to work, but every time I came near the others I let out a loud whoop. They kept asking me what was up and I said I would tell them at smoko."
Vicky says people have been genuinely pleased to hear of their win.
"I think it is nice when it is local people. You always wonder who wins these big prizes don't you? We are both really grateful to all the businesses who supported this promotion as well by signing up and getting involved, and of course the main sponsors Dimocks and New World who provided such a great prize."
Tracey Blake, NZME Taranaki sales manager, says the Fill Your Freezer promotion was a great success.
"We were blown away by the amount of entries we received for Fill Your Freezer. Having over 30,000 entries at the end of the promotion goes to show business in the Central Taranaki region is alive and well."