Woman wins brand new ‘Titan’ truck

A woman took home a brand-new Nissan Titan truck yesterday after being declared the grand prize winner of the three-month long “Enjoy Coca-Cola and Win This 2004 Nissan Titan” holiday raffle promo.

Bernadita C. Mercado, 62, was joined by her daughter Celia C. Mercado during the awarding ceremony yesterday where she was presented a symbolic key to the red truck at the Chalan Lau Lau office of Coca Cola Beverage Co. (Micronesia) Inc.

With the win, Mercado now belongs to the 10 people in the CNMI who drive around the islands on a 2004 Titan truck.

The promo was hosted by Coca-Cola, in cooperation with Joeten Motor Co. Inc.

The awarding ceremony was attended by Coca Cola general manager Johnnie Fong, CCBC sales and marketing director Kathryn H. Barry, and Joeten Motors general manager Joe Guererro.

The grand raffle draw was earlier held on Jan. 7, 2004, at the Coca Cola office, attended by Clarence Tenorio of JCT Enterprises and CCBC officials.

Over $50,000 were given away during the entire duration of the promo. A total of 54 other prizes were awarded, including $2,000 discount from JMC, $1,000 JCT gift certificate, $500 gift certificate from Duty Free Shoppers, and a total of $2,000 gift certificates from Ace Hardware, JCT, Coca Cola and others.

Mercado, or Bernie, as she is known to friends, considers the truck as not only a holiday gift from Coca Cola but also an advance birthday present to her as she will celebrate her 63rd birthday this Feb. 2. Bernie shared that she has been a soda drinker as far she could remember. She can, until now, consume up to four cans of Coke a day. She said that drinking Coke also helps her battle her emphysema.

Her daughter Celia, was at a funeral of a relative when she got a call from her cousin informing her of her mom winning the grand prize. “I couldn’t concentrate,” Celia said. “Even my father in Seattle confirmed this and I almost wanted to tell my dad to call back because I was tired due to all the funeral fuss.”

The next day, Celia phoned Barry and got confirmation of her mom winning.

When Bernie heard the news, she screamed, telling her daughter that she still had more coupons in her purse. “Ma, you already won the grand prize,” Celia said.

“I guess one ticket is enough,” Barry said.

Bernie had been thinking of buying a new car as the one she is driving is now old and dilapidated. “Now we can save the money,” Bernie laughed. She shared that she also had won in past promos on the island. She already won a desktop computer system from a raffle at Mt. Carmel, which she gave to her daughter Celia. “This time I’m going to keep this,” she said. (Marconi Calindas)