RAYMOND -- What would you say to a phone caller who says you just won $10,000?
"Yeah, right,'' is the answer a very dubious Carol Radtke offered.
"I was like 'no way, you're kidding,''' said Radtke, still chuckling a day after the phone call that turned out to be true.
Radtke, 40, saw her name on national television only five minutes after the Monday evening phone call to her home in Raymond. She was that night's $10,000 winner of the trivia question on NBC's "Treasure Hunters'' program.
"It only takes one time to win, I guess,'' said Radtke, who was still somewhat incredulous one day later about her good fortune.
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Actually, it took a quick hand on the computer keyboard to win. Radtke had her Internet connection ready to Ask.Com when the "Treasure Hunters'' program featured its weekly trivia question. Monday's question asked viewers what was the first book to be mass produced in 1455.
Radtke said it's a question that she would not have been able answer in an instant, but Ask.Com could. It informed her that the Gutenberg Bible was the correct answer, and Radtke instantly e-mailed that answer to the Treasure Hunter's web site.
Her correct answer and name went into a drum with many others at NBC's studio in New York. While Radtke watched the show, an NBC employee at the studio placed a phone call to her home. Her name had been pulled.
Radtke said she almost didn't answer the phone. A glance at her caller ID indicated that the call was coming from "something Inc.'' It led her to suspect it was a telemarketer calling.
She answered anyway, and soon expressed her disbelief. Her caller from NBC held up the phone so that she could hear the activities taking place in the studio around him.
Radtke said it is the first time she has ever won any kind of big prize. "I'm not a gambler,'' she said.
Her previous attempts at winning have been limited to placing her name in drawings at the county fair and at promotions offered by her favorite shopping destinations.
Radtke said she and her husband Rich plan to pay off some bills with the winnings, and possibly use some of the funds to visit family in New York state.
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After calling friends to announce her good fortune on Monday evening, Radtke went straight to her job as a nurse with Divine House. Winning $10,000 is a windfall, she said, but she doesn't need Ask.Com to know how quickly it will disappear.
Radtke said she had sent answers to trivia questions on Treasure Hunters only four times previously. She discovered the show while channel surfing one night. She said she likes its fast pace and the history lesson it offers. The episodes she has watched have featured teams solving clues about our country's early history.
