St Ann farming couple surprised at winning car

It's a headache you would want to wish on anyone, especially yourself, during the Yuletide Season. So it was that Marva Guthrie and spouse Amos Blake found themselves saddled with the dilemma recently of not knowing what to do with their 2018 Hyundai Tucson.

"No, I don't," they each responded with a laugh, when asked if they had a driver's licence.

A full Bluetooth entertainment system is just one of the features of the top-of-the-line vehicle Guthrie took home as winner of the Hi-Pro Feed Christmas Promotion.

One of five Hi-Pro feed customers shortlisted for the grant prize, she had watched two other women win cash prizes and feed, before the lone male was eliminated leaving the mother of two adult children a nervous wreck.

Even after being announced as the winner of the vehicle, and receiving the key from industry and agriculture minister Karl Samuda and congratulations from Christopher and Robert Levy, group CEO and chairman, respectively, of the Jamaica Broilers Group, the mother of two adult children still wasn't fully convinced.

"Not yet, I can't believe, no!" she admitted.

After basking in the excitement of the moment with camera flashes going off all around, the couple had quietly retreated to the outskirts of the reception area. Up to that point, their daughter was the only person they had telephoned to advise of this good fortune.

"Fifty-fifty" the poultry farmer said when asked about her chances coming into the finals. She had qualified by purchasing feed for their 150-broiler chicken farm. The jerk pan vendor is the main outlet for the meat generated by the family-staffed operation, which generates a small, reliable income stream.

And even as they wrestle with what to do with their prize vehicle, this Christmas gift is already having a multiplier effect.

"It push us to go bigger," said Blake, in declaring the couple's intention to increase the scale of their poultry farming in Brown's Town, St Ann.