Attending Oprah show pays big dividends for Anna native
source="b04f4d9c21ec3a12aa9fbeafb6b7bb2b.jpg"
Attending the taping of an Oprah Winfrey show paid big dividends recently for Anna native Candi Merriman Davis.
Davis and her husband, Steve Davis, recently took delivery of two new Volkswagens and many other prizes.
She explains: "My husband and I attended a taping of the Oprah show last November and managed to be in the Favorite Things show. We were awarded tons of prizes which included a new 2012 VW Beetle.
"We didn't know what the show was about until we got there. We received many gifts, including iPads, diamond earrings, a Coach purse, Le Creuset cookware, and of course the cars. We received our cars October 13th."
The Davis family lives in Somonauk, west of Chicago.
Candi works for Access Service of Northern Illinois in Rockford as an advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Steve works for Caterpillar Inc. in Aurora. Their son, Cameron is 10, and daughter, Cara is 8.
"Steve got a silver car and I chose red. We were allowed to choose from silver, red, yellow, or powder blue. Bill Jacobs VW in Naperville was the dealership that provided us with the cars," she said
"Our family and friends are so excited for us. Everyone has been so supportive and sincerely happy for us. One of the gifts we received was gift cards to Nordstrom, and we spent the entire $2,000 (combined total, we each received $1,000) on the women in our family.
"We bought 21 pairs of pajamas last year for Christmas as a way to share our Oprah gifts with both sides of our family. That was the best part of the whole experience."
Davis said that among her biggest supporters through the experience were her Southern Illinois family members: Robin Cameron, mom; Kenny and Gloria Merriman, father and step mom live in McClure; Joyce Cameron, grandma; Elvis and Kristen Cameron, (he is an attorney in Anna), uncle and aunt; Steve and Dee Guined, uncle and aunt; Stacy and Judy Thomas, uncle and aunt; Jim and Janet Short, uncle and aunt; Dorothy Merriman, grandma.