Usually when the local radio station, (Oldies 94.1, in Salt Lake), runs contests and asks for caller number so and so - Dave will win a CD, about every 6 months or so. In May and June, they were running a national contest for 6 weeks where every Monday through Friday, 10 times a day they would give out a key word and you would have to text the word into the NATIONAL Clear Channel radio station. Dave was rather hit and miss on playing the game. He would usually get the word about once a week on his way home from work and text it in. And to make matter worse, Utah has now recently enacted a new law that you can't use your cell phone for anything other than receiving a phone call!! Well...on Wednesday of the last week of the contest, Dave decided to try using his hands free device to text the key word "tree" on his way to work. Surprising, the text went through on the hands free device. By the time Dave got to work, his cell phone was ringing with a phone number from Cincinnati, Ohio. Dave almost didn't answer the call, (thinking it was a telemarketer). But, he did. He found out that he was the hourly national winner!! He won $1,000, and was entered to along with the 300 entrants to possibly win a trip to Denver, Colorado to see the Steve Miller Band, Journey and Tower of Power in concert at the Pepsi Center. The trip would include airfare, hotel, ground transportation, an autographed guitar from the group Journey, and a day of golfing with Jonathan Cain, and $1,000 spending money. Dave was excited, but didn't think he had much of a chance.
Well on the following Monday morning at 7:00 am, he was gathering up his lunch and items for work and just about to head out the door for work when his cell phone rang. We both thought "who would be calling at this hour". The number just said Salt Lake. Dave answered it, and the female voice asked "is this Dave Kronenberg"? Dave said "yes". She said "the Dave Kronenberg in Riverton, Utah"? Dave said "yes". She then asked "the Dave Kronenberg who last week won the $1,000 prize from Clear Channel radio"? Dave said "yes". She said "hi Dave, this is Meredith from Oldies 94.1 radio and I'm calling to tell you that you just won the Grand Prize - a trip to Denver to see Steve Miller Band and Journey... Do you know what this means?" Dave was almost speechless. He finished the interview, which was recorded for later airing and you couldn't wipe the smile off his face for days!! Dave now tells everyone "who says money doesn't grow on trees".
On July 15th, we flew to Denver and here are a couple of Dave's photos:
We were picked up by a driver, (his name was also Dave, but he was nicknamed Bisquit). A really nice guy. Drove us all around the whole time we were in Denver. The radio station had us a nice room downtown at the Hyatt.
That afternoon, Dave and Johnathan, along with the band's manager, (John), and the local marketing manager for the Colorado Clear Channel radio stations, (Brad). We also met with the national marketing manager, (Joe). All really nice guys, who went out of their way to make us feel welcome.
Dave had a great time on the course with the guys. But since he hasn't played golf for about 16 years, he was pretty exhausted after just 9 holes.
He begged off the last 9 holes. It was already 5:30, and we'd been up since 4:00 am. They continued on, playing the full 18 holes. The country club, (Inverness Golf and Country Club), was beautiful. It has lots of geese, ducks, and rabbits all over the course. I got some great photos not only of the wildlife but of the guys playing golf.
We spent Wednesday morning visiting with our friend, (Mariam), then walking around the 16th Street Mall area. That evening we went to the show and got to go backstage where we met Steve Miller. As you can see from Dave's smile, he was pretty happy!!
The Steve Miller Band but on a great show. Of course we were sitting in row 1 in the center!! So, the view was fantastic!! Able to see their expressions and got lots of great photos of the band.
We were able to go backstage and meet the band Journey before they performed. I got some good shots of Dave talking with them and joking around.
Their show was fantastic, so much energy on the stage. And I got lots of wonderful up close of personal photos. I was lucky that I brought my long lens. I have some great facial pictures.
Dave really was glad he got to see Tower of Power. He's seen them several times, and being a smooth jazz fan, he really enjoys their music. They were the first to perform and they really had the audience warmed up for Steve Miller.
We didn't get out of the concert until almost 11:00 pm, but it was a well worth going to see at any price. The next night this same concert was playing in Salt Lake at the USANA and the Salt Lake crowd was in for a great experience.
Thursday, we came home a little tired, but very happy. The band shipped Dave's autographed guitar to our house a couple of days later. So we didn't have to hassle with getting it through TSA and the airport, (a really nice gesture on their part). I tease Dave every so often that I'm checking EBAY to see how much the autographed guitar is worth so I can sell it. And he just answers "NO". This was definitely a once in a lifetime win, and we did enjoy it.
Thank you Clear Channel Radio.
