DERBY LINE, Vt. (WCAX) – Derby Line is a world away from Los Angeles. That’s why Priscilla Stebenne, her sisters Cheryl St. Pierre and Debby Monfett, and her good friend Donna Slocum took a trip to Tinsel Town back in January.
Escaping the Vermont winter was splendid, and so was being in the audience for “The Price is Right.”
St. Pierre had already heard the iconic words “come on down” a decade ago and she even made it to the “showcase showdown” but lost. So, what were the odds it would happen again for the intrepid travelers?
“It’s going to be Priscilla Stebenne! Come on down!” announcer George Gray revealed to the studio audience.
Now it was Stebenne’s turn to run down the aisle. “I probably have never been that nervous before in my life,” she recalled. “I had no idea, to be honest with you.”
After multiple attempts to guess the price of a product, the Vermonter was the closest to guessing the price of a prize close to home — a snow sled. “My heart was beating so fast,” Stebenne said.
She had made it on stage and into the spotlight for an attempt to win a trip. Not to Paris, London, or Madrid. “It’s a trip to beautiful Vermont!” Gray intoned.
“Oh my god, the irony of it,” St. Pierre said.
“I said, ‘That’s where I’m from Drew,’” Stebenne said.
Drew Carey: Priscilla, why don’t you tell everybody where you live.
Priscilla Stebenne: Vermont.
Announcer George Gray: We’re sending you home!
The game was Hi-Lo — picking the price of a common product. But soon, Stebenne’s chance for a 5-day stay in Burlington began to fade away. She went on to win a spin for the final showcase but underbid and lost.
“Just the whole experience was so surreal and so much fun. I didn’t care,” she said. Stebenne had a wish of winning a car or meeting Drew. “Drew Carey is just a super, super, nice guy,” she said.
And that, she says, is priceless.