Albany woman Helen Ralph a worthy winner of the Advertiser’s Hilton Garden Inn giveaway

An unlucky moment led to a stroke of good fortune for Helen Ralph, the worthy winner of the Advertiser’s latest Tuesday giveaway. Ms Ralph, 86, bought her copy of Tuesday’s Advertiser from North Road Shopping Centre, put it in her trolley then headed for her car. Gusty winds blew the newspaper out of her trolley but she managed to save two pages. “I was bending down to get the pages and hoping no one would see me,” she laughed. “When I get home I opened the newspaper and thought, ‘I wonder what I’ve saved?’ “The first thing I saw was the coupon, so I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to win this’. The next day, Ms Ralph went to St John’s Anglican Church hall to volunteer at the weekly soup kitchen. The Frenchman Bay woman has made the soup kitchen part of her routine, along with making patchwork quilts for people affected by family violence. She popped next door to Newspaper House and entered her coupon for the Advertiser’s Hilton Garden Inn giveaway. “I told the girls at the Advertiser that actually, I think this is my winning ticket,” she said. First prize was one night’s accommodation in a king/twin ocean view room with a buffet breakfast for two. Second prize was a $100 voucher to Together & Co — the hotel’s in-house restaurant. Sure enough, Ms Ralph won first prize. Ms Ralph said she had never stayed at the hotel and planned to invite a friend from Mandurah who could do with a special treat. Second prize went to Albany man Russ Sharples. The Hilton Garden Inn giveaway was the latest in a series of competitions running in partnership with local businesses in the Advertiser’s revamped Tuesday edition. The new-look Tuesday edition was launched in February, featuring two new sections and expanded sports coverage.