Belle Haven man wins Publishers Clearing House

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Publishers Clearing House $10,000 winner Holland Wilgus (center) is at home with his husband, Robert Bash (right) and the Prize Patrol. Photo by Stefanie Jackson.

By Stefanie Jackson – Holland Howard Wilgus Jr., of Belle Haven, enters the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes every day but was still surprised when the Prize Patrol showed up at his house on Thursday with a check for $10,000.

“I play every single day and I never expected to win,” Wilgus said. His advice for anyone in doubt that real people win PCH prizes is “just keep playing.”

His husband, Robert Bash, who works at Walmart in Pocomoke City, Md., was sitting on a tractor getting ready to cut grass when he saw three vehicles pull into the driveway.

As soon as he saw a man approaching carrying a big certificate with the recognizable gold PCH emblem, Bash knew what was up and went inside to fetch his partner without giving away the surprise at the front door.

Wilgus won his choice of a trip for two to New York City or the cash value of the trip, $10,000. He didn’t have to think long before he decided to take the money and said he could use it to fix his car. 

“This is killer,” he said.

Howie Guja, of PCH, who awarded the prize, said every prize winner he has visited has opted for the money, because the winner can spend it on anything and doesn’t need the funds upfront to pay the taxes on the prize.

Wilgus said he enters the PCH drawings online every day on his phone, and he once won an iPod Touch, but this is his first time winning a Weekly Grand Prize.

Now that he has won a big prize, he doesn’t have to stop playing. He can continue to enter the PCH Sweepstakes every day and try to win more prizes, Guja said.

Publishers Clearing House was founded in 1953 as a magazine subscription agency, but today it’s an interactive media company that offers a broad range of products, services, and digital entertainment.

Anyone can enter to win the PCH Sweepstakes every day by visiting its official website, www.pch.com

PCH also has an app with games to play and more chances to win prizes.

Prizes are funded by PCH company revenues and the drawings and games are always free. PCH never asks winners to pay money to claim prizes.

More than 2.2 million people follow PCH on Facebook to stay updated on sweepstakes news and watch winning moments like Wilgus’s.

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