Cheerwine craving could net Salisbury woman a new home
    By Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post ( Salisbury , North Carolina )

There is justice in the world.

Susan Kennedy of Salisbury has been a living Cheerwine advertisement for much of her 51 years.

It only seems fitting that she would have been randomly selected June 20 as the second of five finalists in Cheerwine 's current "Givin' Away the House" promotion with R-Anell Homes.

Kennedy now has a one-in-five chance of claiming a new house when the winner is drawn in October.

"I was just dumbfound," Kennedy said of learning she was a finalist.

Kennedy drinks at least a two-liter bottle of Diet Cheerwine a day. Coworkers have nicknamed her "The Cheerwine Girl."

She takes her Diet Cheerwine with her whenever she travels.

When she works as a waitress on her second job at Chestnut Hill Barbecue on the weekends, she keeps a cup of coffee at one end of the front counter and a cup of Diet Cheerwine at the other end.

Kennedy routinely buys her favorite soft drink by the case and constantly saves bottle caps from her Cheerwine s and enters the codes under the caps into "The Crave Factor," a consumer rewards program on the Cheerwine Web site.

By entering codes, she accumulates points that are good for earning free Cheerwine merchandise such as shirts, ballcaps, coolers, watches, clocks, etc. She has obtained many of these rewards, by the way.

Kennedy had heard about the "Givin' Away the House" promotion, but she didn't realize she was automatically entering the contest each time she went to "The Crave Factor" and typed in her 12-digit codes from the bottlecaps.

"I had no idea at all," she said.
After a full day's work at Food Lion headquarters June 20, Kennedy went home that evening, checked her e-mails and noticed she had a message from Cheerwine .

Kennedy thought at first it might be spam, but because the message said Cheerwine , she opened it up and learned she was the finalist chosen for the month of June. Marketing agencies for Cheerwine and R-Anell have since posed her for pictures and taken her to Stallings Homes in Kannapolis , an R-Anell builder.

Her chances of winning a new house are as equally exciting for Kennedy because she really needs one. She rents a place now with her daughter and granddaughter.

"We've been in the market for the last six months," Kennedy says, "but it just seems like all kinds of obstacles" cropped up.

She became even more enthused after visiting the Stallings Homes sales center and seeing the kind of house that the promotion is giving away.

"I had no idea a modular home could look that way," Kennedy said. "I wanted to take one home with me." The R-Anell home model is called "The Preston," a three-bedroom, two-bath, modular house of 1,400 square feet. it features 9-foot ceilings, a built-in glass hutch and formal dining area.

As with most new homes, it can be customized by the winner, who would select things such as floor coverings, colors, countertops, cabinets, lighting, door knobs and the like.

The Preston won a 2004 National Association of Builders award for design.
The contest winner would be responsible for providing the parcel on which the house would rest. Homes can be custom built in the R-Anell factories and be ready for occupancy on the site in 45 to 60 days.

"Everybody's giving me input," Kennedy said.
Kennedy joins 70-year-old retiree Betty Martin of Monticello , Fla. , who was the first finalist chosen in May. Finalists (three more) also will be chosen in July, August and September.

Cheerwine President Mark Ritchie said the house giveaway is "definitely the biggest prize we've given away."
Jeff Slater, vice president of marketing for Cheerwine , said the response has been tremendous relative to the Southeast region in which it has been promoted. Residents of 11 states are eligible.

The contest has drawn about 50,000 entries a month. Salisbury , headquarters to the almost 90-year-old soft-drink maker, stands as the No.1 city in the number of entries, "which doesn't surprise anyone," Slater said.

"The interest has really been exceptional," he added. "We're really thrilled, and I think the folks at R-Anell have been happy."

If Kennedy happened to win the house, Stallings Homes likely would be her builder.
"It would be a great thing for her to win, it really would," Helen Stallings said. "She's a wonderful lady. We enjoyed meeting her."

Stallings said the winner will be getting a good home.
"We feel like they (R-Anell) lead the market," she said. "It exceeds the standard building codes, which is what a lot of other people go by. We've been selling their product exclusively, and they meet every need we have for the market."

Stallings said she and her husband, Joker, consider R-Anell a true custom builder.
R-Anell Homes describes itself as the "most-established" manufacturer of custom homes in the Southeast. The company started in Landis in 1972 and is now based in Lincoln County . Dennis Jones is president of the company, which has 350 employees and manufacturing plants in Denver (N.C.) and Cherryville.

The company's designs range from 1,000 to 4,000 square feet.
Founded in 1917, Carolina Beverage Corp. makes Cheerwine , which is distributed throughout North and South Carolina and in portions of Tennessee , Kentucky , Georgia , Virginia , Alabama , Louisiana , Texas , Oklahoma , Arkansas , West Virginia , Pennsylvania , Iowa , Missouri , Illinois , Indiana and Minnesota .

When Cheerwine officials learned what a fan Kennedy was of their soft drink, they promised her 25 cases of Diet Cheerwine .

Again, justice.