Blue Wahoos Delight Contest Winners In Giving Away New Car, Diamond On Back-To-Back Nights
The Blue Wahoos gave away a new car and a diamond on back-to-back nights, complete with a special experience for both winners during the past homestand. Marion Olson and her husband, Lenny, were celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary on Friday August 29 when Marion became a stunned winner of the
The Blue Wahoos gave away a new car and a diamond on back-to-back nights, complete with a special experience for both winners during the past homestand.
Marion Olson and her husband, Lenny, were celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary on Friday August 29 when Marion became a stunned winner of the 2025 Jeep Compass Latitude provided by Hill-Kelly Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram – a charter corporate partner with the Blue Wahoos.
“Never in a million years would I have imagined this,” she said.
The following night, Sara McVoy, and her boyfriend celebrated Sara unearthing the buried item that represented the diamond winner in the fourth annual Diamond Dig sponsored by Bere’ Jewelers, another charter partner with the Blue Wahoos. They had been recently looking at engagement rings.
“I can’t believe it!” she said.
Both of these promotion nights during the Blue Wahoos home series against the Chattanooga Lookouts represented the largest consecutive giveaways in team history.
A year ago, the Blue Wahoos gave away two tickets to the 2024 Taylor Swift EROS Concert Tour in New Orleans – valued at nearly $6,000 --- as the previous highest value prize.
A Jeep Compass has a manufacture’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of nearly $30,000.
Marion Olson had suggested to her husband earlier in the week about celebrating their wedding anniversary at a Blue Wahoos game. After all, she told Lenny, they loved going to the games whenever possible and why not sit out among the water and star-lit sky and enjoy baseball.
“We weren’t even thinking about the drawing for a car. It was really just about us going to a Wahoos game for a hot dog and a beer and saying, “I love you honey!’ at some point during the game,” she said, laughing.
Well, that happened, too.
But following the game, the Olsons were sitting behind home plate in seats purchased through the Blue Wahoos Ticket Share program when public address announcer Josh Gay began to reveal the winner of the drawing.
For the past several years, the team has urged its season-ticket holders who cannot attend games to put the tickets up for sale on Ticket Share. That’s what the Olsons did.
“We like coming to the games as much as possible, especially on Tuesdays when you can bring your dog,” said Lenny Olson.
“We figured let’s go do something we love, so I bought the tickets. And these two seats popped up,” Marion Olson said.
When the section area was revealed, Marion immediately turned to her husband and reminded no one was sitting in the row behind them, so maybe, just maybe, she instantly thought.
And then she heard the announcement it was actually her seat. The car had been brought out on the field and parked behind home plate when the winner was revealed.
“It’s so amazing,” she said.
The car will stay in the family. The couple has three granddaughters. Immediately after photos were taken, it was time to sign some paperwork. The restriction in the contest was it had to be awarded to a Florida resident of at least 18-years-old, which of course, the Olsons met that criteria.
“Am I really going to drive this home?” she said, laughing, looking back at the car.
The Bere Jewelers Diamond Dig on Saturday (Aug. 30) allowed any ticket holder that night to pre-register for free and participate in the dig. Each was handed a plastic spoon and hundreds entered the field as the post-game fireworks were being launched.
The digging began. And it continued for a lengthy amount of time in the second base area before McVoy screamed with joy after finding the sealed plastic bag that contained the redeemable trinket that will become a $2,500 diamond of her choice.
McVoy, a Pensacola Beach resident, recently graduated from nursing school in Pensacola to pursue her career. She mentioned to on-field emcee “Big Time Tim” Mulroy that she and her boyfriend, Taylor, were in Bere Jewelers two months ago looking at rings.
She never imagined winning a diamond.
Bere Jewelers owners Barry and Laura Cole were standing nearby. Their company has been a loyal corporate sponsor for the Blue Wahoos and this event has annually attracted a crowd of eager participants.
Both giveaways provided the kind of special experience the Blue Wahoos sought in staging the promotions.