Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Locals flock to Wheelmobile for shot at game show spot

Nancy Estep could go from solving puzzles from her couch to solving them as a contestant on the game show "Wheel of Fortune" in California.

"I just love 'Wheel of Fortune,'" said Estep, 51, who recalled when she lived in Ohio how she and her sister would call each other when the show came on television and would try to solve the puzzles together. "I've never been anywhere where they have [the Wheelmobile]," said Estep, who moved from Ohio to Myrtle Beach six years ago.

Estep said she and her sister in Florida had to stop calling each other while the show was on because the long-distance bills got too high. But she was one of thousands of fans who went out Sunday to Coastal Grand mall as the "Wheel of Fortune's" Wheelmobile rolled into town.

The show's promotional vehicle - which was last in the area in June 2001 - was in Myrtle Beach this weekend in search of energetic and enthusiastic people who could be contestants on the game show, which is co-hosted by North Myrtle Beach's own Vanna White.

Estep was one of several individuals Sunday who fit those criteria.

"I just love the challenge of solving the puzzle," Estep said. She jumped and ran to the stage when she was picked to play a simulated version of the game show.

The event, where fans' names were drawn at random to play the simulated game, was held Saturday and Sunday at Coastal Grand mall's Entertainment Pavilion.

About 5,000 people showed up for both days, yelling and cheering on contestants as they took the stage to play the game with hosts Marty Lublin and Whitney Kirk - better known as the traveling versions of hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White.

Estep didn't get picked Saturday to play so she went back Sunday, and her persistence paid off. She won prizes including a "Wheel of Fortune" mini pack and a Red Robin gift certificate for playing, and she is now among those being evaluated as potential contestants for the broadcast version of the game show.

David Strathearn, senior marketing and promotions manager with "Wheel of Fortune," said Sunday that staff members were looking for good stage presentation and individuals who are naturally energetic.

"We want as many people as possible on the show," Strathearn said. He said staff members will return to Myrtle Beach to make the final cuts in the next couple of months.

"Oh my God, that would be phenomenal," Estep said, thinking about the possibility of being picked to be on TV. "That would be one of the best things next to marrying my husband."

During her round of the simulated game, Estep lost when another contestant successfully solved the "living thing" puzzle, which spelled out "hammerhead shark."

But Richard Lajoie, a contestant in a different round, won after he solved the same category. His puzzle spelled "golden eagle," and he figured it out with only six letters on the board.

"I didn't think I was going to get it," said Lajoie, 69, even though he said he knew the puzzle after the fifth letter.

Lajoie, who was there Sunday with his wife, his sister and his sister-in-law, said they decided to go just to see what it was all about.

"We never expected to be called," said Lajoie, whose sister was also a contestant. "We just wanted to enjoy the camaraderie and have fun."

However, several audience members said Lajoie would definitely be a contestant on the show after they witnessed him hop, skip and jump around on the stage.

"I would be ecstatic and be beside myself if I had an opportunity to go back to my college town and see what it looks like after 50 years," said Lajoie, who attended Northrop Institute of Technology in California.