Cue to win

“Listen for the sound that’s your cue to call in and win!”

As addicted as I was to television as a child, even I was willing to turn off the Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons to listen to the radio.  Not only did I love singing along with Crystal Gayle or the Oak Ridge Boys, I was equally addicted to radio contests.

Our local country station was great for school closing announcements and news of our region. But the best contests were found on the new country station out of Cleveland, WGAR. When I heard the teaser indicating that the “cue to win” was coming soon, I would dial the toll-free number, let it get answer and then hang up. That way I could hit redial when the time was right. I was grateful that we had replaced the rotary phone in our living room with a push button one. I knew this would improve my odds.

There it was! A snippet from of the band’s big hit sent me racing to the telephone. I hit redial. Busy signal. Hang up and redial again. The phone rang! I excitedly motioned my mom over to turn down the radio.

“Congratulations! You’re caller number ten. You’ve just won two tickets to see Alabama live at Blossom Music Center. Stay on the line so we can get your information.”

“I won!” I shouted to my parents. “I won the tickets!”

Over the years, I won movie tickets and a free CD through radio contests. Yet now when I’m in my car, I’m more likely to be listening to an audio book than to the radio. At home, I use Pandora or a CD to provide background music. When I do tune in to the radio, the station isn’t likely to “play me some mountain music.” I don’t bother to program the contest lines into my cell phone now that corporate stations force me to compete against a national audience for prizes.

But I’ll always remember the time that my dad and I sat under the pavilion at Blossom listening to Alabama, the Artist of the Decade, thanks to the tickets I won on the radio.

It was close enough to perfect, for me.

I was reminded of my radio contest days by reading some of the bloggers participating in this week’s Remember the Time Blog Hop. This week’s theme as chosen by co-hosts Emily & Ashley is the radio. I’m linking up my radio memory-you should, too!