AfterProm winner of Civic donated by Scott Honda sees sudden need for visit to DMV
Emma Tierney, a junior at Unionville High School gets to know her new car — a 2002 Honda Civic, donated to the school's AfterProm by Scott Honda.
By Mike McGann, Editor, UnionvilleTimes.com
EAST MARLBOROUGH — Emma Tierney has changed her thinking about getting her drivers’ license.
You see, until the wee hours of the morning Sunday, the Unionville junior didn’t feel the need to go beyond having her learner’s permit. There weren’t much in the way of spare cars around her Pocopson home, especially with an older brother who is a senior at Unionville, so even if she got her license, there wouldn’t be much of a chance to drive anyway. She has all the requirements done, and basically just needed to hit the DMV to get her license, but without wheels to drive, it just wasn’t a priority.
But then, just before 5 a.m. Sunday, Tierney found herself called up to the stage for the final giveaway and it only took a few minutes for her thinking on drivers licenses to change.
“I was just kind of lying around with my friends, there on the floor, and we were saying ‘we should just enjoy the last half hour of the AfterProm, because we’re not going to win anything,’ “ Tierney said Tuesday.
But suddenly, there she was, one of 10 students picked to open 10 small packages. Nine had Matchbox cars in them. One had a Matchbox car in it with a key taped to it — and whoever got that package would find themselves the owner of a nice, 2002 Honda Civic, donated to the AfterProm by Scott Honda.
Still, even though she had a one-in-10 chance, Tierney still didn’t think it was going to be her.
“I was opening the package kind of slowly, expecting that someone else would yell out that they won,” she said. “And even after I opened it, it just didn’t register. Someone had to tell me ‘you have the key!’ And I said, ‘what are you talking about?’ It was a house key, and I guess I was kind of looking for the black plastic car key.”
House key or not, Tuesday, Tierney got her chance to spend a little time with her new ride — and got to hold the real key, black plastic and all — and sit behind the wheel for the first time.
Now, suddenly, getting that license so she doesn’t need a lift to her job at Kennett YMCA or to gymnastics is a lot more realistic. Although walking around the halls at Unionville High School, it seems like she might also need a press agent, as she copes with a constant flow of congratulations from her friends and classmates.
While Tierney won the big prize during the AfterProm — which got nothing but rave reviews from both students attending, as well as parents and community members who go a sneak peek — dozens of other prizes were donated to add a bit excitement to an already thrilling evening.
James Kelly won a Vizio 19″ Razor TV, while Jacob Gross won a Toshiba 19″ LCD TV. Alexandra Abram won an iPad, while Connor Riley and Kyle Knox won iPod Touches and Austin Rinck won an iPod Nano.
Cailey Oehler won an XBox 360 Kinect game system, while Sarah Greeley won a Sony Cybershot digital camera and Samuel Barnett won a Nikon CoolPix camera.
Emily Kamelhar won a iHome Charging Station/Speaker and Madeline Wielgus won a Sony Charging Station/Speaker.
Matt McKeeman won Activity package A: Philly Rock Gym Gift Certificate/ Barnaby’s Gift Card, while Brieann Grissom won Activity Package B: Northbrook Canoe Rental Gift Certificate/Enzo’s Gift Card/Bruster’s Gift Card. Alexander Kenton won a Pamper Yourself Package $125 Gift Card and Salon Products(Over $250 Value) rom Moxi Salon, while Donald Swyer won a Fairman $50.00 Gift Card. Helen Bongers won a $50 Best Buy gift card.
Sarah Fisher and Kyle Dixon won a Chris Despo CD, while Alice Liu, Sarah Fulton and Charlotte Cushing won Insignia Stereo Computer Speakers.
Tyler Bowman, Jeff Auger, Ray Billinski, Kyle Bradley, Connor McEvoy, Maxwell Larson, Connor McShane, Samantha Bowen, Pam Gramlich, Madison Adams, Sarah Gomez and Kevin Guerette won noise canceling headphones.
