Um, do you want to buy a vowel?
By Tom Callis, Peninsula Daily News
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But they weren't there to test their luck at the poker tables or slot machines.
They came to play TV's "Wheel of Fortune."
About 500 fans from around the Pacific Northwest came to the casino's event center to play in the road show that travels the country searching for the right people to play the game on national television.
"I've always dreamt of winning a big vacation," since she started watching the show more than 20 years ago, said Sequim resident Mary Gorczewski, who had her turn on stage.
David Stratheran, "Wheel of Fortune" marketing manager, said the road show travels to more than 20 cities throughout the country every year in search of contestants.
This was the second time it had come to Blyn since the road show started in 2000.
150 on stage
About 150 fans climbed onto the stage to play the game throughout the day.
About 50 of Saturday's contestants will be chosen as to compete as finalists for the show, with a chance to compete for a spot on the show in Seattle some time within the next few months.
Stratheran said contestants should be loud, energetic, and have natural stage presence.
If the show needs additional contestants for the final round, Stratheran said that some of the people who weren't chosen to play the game on Saturday will be selected at random.
Statheran said about 20 to 30 people from the Pacific Northwest likely will be chosen to go on the television show within the next two seasons.
The traveling show is in its ninth year. Statheran said its purpose is to get a wide range of different people from throughout the nation.
"It's a great way to see all of our faithful viewers," he said," and let them touch and feel the show."
PA graduate
Marty Lublin and Port Angeles High School graduate Heidi Jackson act as counterparts to Pat Sajak and Vanna White on the traveling show.
Now an actress living in New York City, Jackson graduated from high school in 1992.
"It feels great being back," she said.
"I did a lot of growing up here."
Though the game resembled the television show, the letters didn't glow, and they were written in black marker by Jackson.
All of the participants received prizes whether or not they guessed the phrase correctly while on stage.
The prizes were typically Wheel of Fortune hats, mini-packs, T-shirts and duffle bags.
Gorczewski said she was "tickled" to have received a Wheel of Fortune hat, though it's not as fancy as the prizes given out on the television show.
The first phrase of the day was "Pride of Ownership," guessed by Albert Borja, 57, of Renton.
Borja said he didn't expect to get on stage.
"I had to try," he said.
Borja said he came with his wife to the Blyn tryout, instead of the tryouts to be held Tuesday and Wednesday in Tacoma at the Emerald Queen Casino, because he felt he had a better chance of getting a chance to play the game.
Sequim resident Sharon Jackson, 62, who was selected to participate in the first round of the game, was the first to show off her dancing skills on stage, but she wasn't the last.
Those who admitted to Lublin they enjoy dancing were encouraged to show the audience how they can move to music played over the loudspeakers.
"I felt pretty funny," Sharon Jackson said.
"I was just going with the flow."
Wheel of Fortune fans can expect the show to stay on the air through 2012, Stratheran said.
The show is currently in its 26th season.
Last modified: July 12. 2008 9:00PM