Cyndi Trobeck of Otsego won the grand prize drawing in The Allegan County News’ Subscribe and Win contest.
The Otsego mayor won the prize after signing up for two years of the paper both online and in print in February.
“I used to pick it up on the newsstand,” Trobeck said, having lived in Otsego for the last two decades across the street from a grocery store that sold it.
She said she and her husband Gary had had a subscription off and on and had been thinking about getting it again when they saw the contest.
“That was basically the catalyst that prompted me,” she said. “I read it because it’s really the only place I can get local news, the only place that tells you what’s going on.
“And you get the good stuff as well as the bad stuff.”
She said she tends to read things online, like her books and magazines, while her husband tends to like flipping through the pages, especially the sports section.
“But for a long time, I used to sit down every day and read the paper paper,” Trobeck said. “I like that you can get it both ways, and I’m happy it’s going strong.”
Second prize in the contest—and $500—went to Edie and David Edwards of Wayland.
Edie said her father Ray Kamyszek of Wayland got the paper for many years. He died last August at age 96.
“My dad would get it; he would read it and then give it to me,” she said. “After he passed, we really started to miss it here.”
Edie said she appreciated the local news, the foreclosures and reading about who’s getting married on the For the Record page. She said her family all grew up in Wayland.
“A lot of times, you know someone in the paper,” said the Wayland High School graduate.
Third prize and $200 went to Rex VanKoevering of Holland.
Though he lives across the county line in Olive Township, he said both sides of his family grew up in Allegan County, and he’s lived in Otsego.
“I was born in Plainwell, at Pipp Hospital,” VanKoevering said. “My mother grew up in Ganges Township.”
He said his father-in-law originally had the subscription and he decided to pick it up himself after he passed away a few years ago.
“I enjoyed a lot of the columns (former editor) Bill (Brown) put in,” VanKoevering said. “There’s a lot of local news, local connections.”
He owns his own plumbing business and said he likes to keep up with the goings-on in the county.
“It’s a big county; I get around all over it,” he said. He said he learned his trade in Allegan County too, working for his uncle at Wightman Services in Saugatuck and Douglas.
“I’ve got newspaper blood in me; I appreciate good, local, hometown coverage,” he said.
Contact Ryan Lewis at (269) 673-5534.
Cyndi Trobeck of Otsego (middle) won the grand prize of $1,000 in the Allegan County News’ Subscribe and Win contest. Also pictured are editor Ryan Lewis and advertising representative Robin Clark.
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