By Staff
When Julia Miller recently bought a birthday bouquet for a special friend at Booth's Country Florist, the stage was set for this Dowagiac resident, herself, to receive a welcome surprise.
Miller received the unexpected news that her name had been drawn as the August winner of the 2005 Summer Shopping Spree promotion of the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Development Authority, as she won $100 in Universal Dowagiac Gift Certificates.
Vickie Phillipson, program director of the Chamber of Commerce and DDA, said this was the second year for the Chamber of Commerce and DDA to team up with participating businesses to make it a memorable summer for three people who shopped the Grand Old City of southwestern Michigan.
The Summer Shopping Spree, which launched June 1, concluded with the August drawing.
Cheryl Frazier of Dowagiac was June's winner, followed by Mary Ann Aukinskis, also of Dowagiac, in July.
Phillipson said Miller's winning ticket was drawn from a preliminary pool of semi-finalists, whose names were pulled from entries collected at participating stores.
The other semi-finalists included: Nancy McDonald of Dowagiac, who registered at Harding's Friendly Market; Jan Lampos of South Bend, who registered at Imperial Furniture; Heidi Behnke of Dowagiac, who registered at The Marshall Shoppe; Christy Hanby of Edwardsburg, who registered at Suite Dreams; Bonnie Shue of Dowagiac, who registered at Vincent J. Jewelers; and Becky Accoe of Dowagiac, who registered at Zeke's.
New this year, the summer promotion was held in conjunction with a three-month "Destination Dowagiac" television advertising campaign, which began airing in early June on WNDU Channel 16.
Miller said she is no stranger to Booth's Country Florist, where she worked several years ago, when her son, Taylor, was then only 18-months-old.
Today, he's a junior at Dowagiac Union High School. "I love that store," Miller said, adding that both Patty and Gary Booth, who own the florist store, "are great people."