For Yvonne Kroeker, entering the “Pack Your Bags” contest started as a fun daily habit while listening to the radio at work. Now, it is turning into the trip of a lifetime.
Kroeker was announced as the grand prize winner of the contest presented by Porter Airlines, Mr. Lube + Tires, CFAM, The Eagle, and Country 88. The prize includes a trip for two anywhere Porter Airlines flies, along with $500 in spending money.
When she got the surprise phone call, Kroeker could hardly believe it.
“That’s awesome,” she said moments after learning she had won. “Thank you so much.”
Kroeker said she entered the contest several times whenever she heard the daily boarding pass-word while streaming the station online at work.
“Well, I believe a couple times during the day,” she explained. “Twice, three times, whenever I caught it.”
While the contest offered endless travel possibilities, Kroeker already knew exactly where she hoped to go. Her dream destination is Vancouver Island, where her brother and extended family live.
“My brother lives there and that was my goal, to go visit Rose and Elliot on the island,” she said. “That was on my bucket list to do.”
A bucket list trip years in the making
What makes the win especially meaningful is that Kroeker has never been able to make the trip before.
“I never have,” she said when asked if she had visited family there before. “This would be the first time.”
She added that both time and finances had kept the trip out of reach until now.
“Like I said, it was on my bucket list and I just haven’t had the time or the financial money to go and make this trip,” Kroeker said. “So this is awesome.”
Her family often sends photos from British Columbia showing green grass and mild weather while Manitoba deals with snow and freezing temperatures.
“When we have winter, they have green grass,” she laughed. “They love to send pictures this way to the family members.”
Kroeker said she enjoys firing back with a few Manitoba reminders of her own.
“I’ll take a picture of a front yard with a big snow bank on it and say, ‘Look what you’re missing,’” she said.
Her family originally lived in Manitoba before moving west for retirement, making the upcoming visit even more special.
Looking ahead to the adventure
Kroeker said she is excited to finally experience Vancouver Island for herself after years of hearing about it from loved ones.
“They’ll probably have an itinerary for us and show us all the sites,” she said. “So it’d be amazing to go.”
The “Pack Your Bags” contest drew nearly 2,000 entries in less than a month, with listeners tuning in online and through the station app for chances to win.
Now, thanks to a little persistence and some lucky timing, Kroeker is preparing to cross a major item off her bucket list while reconnecting with family on Canada’s west coast.