Press Release
November 16, 1998

SHIRLEY WOOD OF PORTALES WINS TRUCK IN ENMU ATHLETIC PROMOTION
Eastern Raises Approximately $50,000 Through Fund Raiser
Shirley Wood of Portales is the lucky winner of a new 1/2-ton pickup courtesy of the Eastern New Mexico Athletic Department and Teague-Strebeck. Her ticket was chosen the winner in an ENMU Athletic Fund Raiser that concluded with the prize drawing at halftime of Eastern’s football game against Midwestern State on Sat., Nov. 14 at Greyhound Stadium. Wood’s winning ticket was drawn from more than 9,700 tickets sold, which raised approximately $50,000 for ENMU Athletics.

Wood and her husband were unable to attend the football game and hear the winning ticket number first-hand. Shirley was at the “Change Your Life” church retreat and her husband Jim was hunting near Milnesand with their son, T.J., age 8.

Jim and T.J. were the first to hear the good news. Clark Gentry, a friend and paramedic who was with the ambulance at the football game, called them on their cell phone while they were still hunting. Jim and T.J. called home and left Shirley a message on the family’s answering machine. Charlie Sorgen, acting president of the ENMU Bench Club booster organization also left a congratulatory phone message. When Shirley returned home, she called Jim and T.J. to check-in on their hunting trip.

“Jim said, have you checked your phone message from T.J.?,” Shirley recalled. “I said no. So he asked if I could check the phone message and stay on the line at the same time.”

Shirley listened to the phone message and was a bit skeptical, thinking perhaps her son and husband were playing a trick on her. Then she heard Sorgen’s message and knew it wasn’t a joke.

She purchased her winning ticket on Thursday, two days before the prize drawing. She purchased the ticket from ENMU Athletic Office Coordinator Norma Stroik, who will receive $500 for selling the winning ticket.

“Last Wednesday, I was looking at the newspaper and I saw that (ENMU was) giving the truck away on Saturday and I hadn’t bought any tickets yet,” Wood said. “I decided to get some tickets.”

Wood, an employee at ENMU from 1985 through 1990, knew Stroik and went to the ENMU athletic office to purchase her tickets (a ticket was provided for each $5 donation to ENMU Athletics). She bought four tickets, and her husband purchased 10 tickets on Friday. Wood remembered that one ticket seemed special. “There was this ticket at the front of the (ticket) book that someone had left behind,” Wood recalled. “I said, that’s going to be the winning ticket.”

As she left the athletic department, Wood had a chance to see her future vehicle. It was on display just outside Greyhound Arena.

“The truck was sitting outside the door,” Wood said. “I asked God to let us win the truck if it was his will . . . I didn’t think about it any more.”

Stroik didn’t count on winning the $500 either. It was a pleasant surprise when one of the tickets she sold was drawn as the winner.

“I was excited. I was happy to sell the ticket to a local person,” Stroik said. “I think I’ll deposit some in my children’s savings accounts, and then I’ll pay for some car repairs. Hopefully, I’ll have some left over for my kids for Christmas.”

Wood and her husband came to Portales in 1979 to live and take several classes at Eastern New Mexico. Both completed Associate degrees from ENMU in 1991. Shirley’s degree was in Business Administration and Jim’s was in University Studies. Shirley is currently attending ENMU part-time to complete work on a bachelor’s degree.

Shirley worked in the ENMU library from 1985 until 1987, when she started working at the Registrar’s office. She stopped working at ENMU in 1990 and currently is self-employed in the child care profession. Jim has been a fireman for 22 1/2 years, and works at the Portales Fire Department. He also has a second job in construction. Shirley and Jim have two children, T.J. and J’Nae, age 4.

Al and Lacy Whitehead donated the truck for the ENMU promotion. The promotion was set up so the winner would be able to choose between a Ford, a Chevy or a Dodge. The Woods hope to trade in the pickup they choose for a new Suburban, probably in the same green as the pickups displayed for the promotion.

The Woods currently have two vehicles, including a 1983 Suburban they’ve owned for eight years. It has been driven for more than 270,000 miles. The other vehicle is a pickup truck Jim uses.

“If you saw both of our vehicles . . . they’re pretty sad,” Shirley said. “I wouldn’t have been able to (buy a new vehicle) without winning.”

In addition to trading in the new pickup for a Suburban, the Woods hope to trade in the old Suburban and their old pickup for another vehicle. That would make the winning ticket twice as good.

Thanks to the success of the fund raiser, ENMU will be able to do more for its athletic teams. Thanks to the winning ticket, the Woods can upgrade their family vehicles.

Donna Sorgen, who along with her husband Charlie is an acting president of the Bench Club, won $1,000 as the person who sold the most tickets during the fund raiser. She sold 2,200 tickets. Sorgen declined to accept the $1,000, and instead donated it to ENMU Athletics.

The ENMU Athletic Department coaches, athletes and staff thank everyone who bought or sold truck tickets.