Pam Dudding
Contributing writer
The Beane family, longtime residents of Craig County, will be flying to Los Angeles, California, to experience the 2019 Grammy Awards.
When Johnny Beane saw the advertisement on WDBJ 7 news that they were having an all expense paid trip to California, he shared with his wife Angie that it would be fun to enter. They usually watched the newscast on WDBJ 7 throughout the day anyway.
“At first I was reluctant, telling him that I thought it would just be a waste of time,” Angie said. “However, he insisted and so I entered,” Johnny told Angie, “You can’t win if you don’t enter.”
They watched various news segments throughout the day to get letters to spell out a hometown in their viewing area. “For example, Galax, Floyd, Union, Wirtz, Salem and Riner were just a few names,” they said. “After figuring out the name from the letters, we just went to their website WDBJ7.com and clicked on the contest link.”
“We won,” Angie screamed when she heard the news, adding, “I guess it pays to listen to your spouse sometimes.”
This won’t be their first time flying out west as they have traveled a couple of times. Once to San Diego on a work-related trip for Johnny and another to Texas and Colorado to spend time with their daughter-in-law who is from San Antonio native. Both say they enjoy flying.
Johnny and Angie Beane were absolutely shocked to hear that they were the winners of the WDBJ-7 Grammy Award 2019 package. It will include: airfare, motel reservations, tickets to the 2019 Grammy Awards and additional spending money.
They added that they hope to be able to explore other activities such as seeing the Hollywood Star Walk of Fame.
“It will only be a three-day trip, so we are limited on time, but it’s free. We are very excited as I never thought I would be seeing the Grammy Awards live,” Angie said
The couple found out that they were officially a finalist on Monday, January 20, when WDBJ called and they were invited to the Mellow Mushroom. Up until then, Johnny and Angie thought they were just another finalist because there were over 820 entries.
The video that spread across Facebook had Logan Sherrill from WDBJ 7 walking up behind them at their table and asked, “How would you like to go to L.A.?”
Both Johnny and Angie responded, “Are you serious?” as Angie cupped her face in her hands in total surprise. Logan added with a big smile, “…as the day is long!”
In the video, Angie said, “My mom is going to die because before we left, she said, ‘I want yall to win so bad because I will be really disappointed if you don’t.’” I said, “Well you might be disappointed.”
Her mom was not disappointed. “She is very happy for us and says it is a well-deserved trip,” added Angie.
The couple’s two sons were super excited for them. “JB thought we were kidding when we told him we won and Andy was over the moon happy for us,” they shared. “Andy loves to travel, so he probably wishes he was going.”
The couple hasn’t started packing yet but said they will be doing a little shopping for some formal attire. “We aren’t fancy people, so we very seldom dress formal unless it’s a family wedding,” they said.
They fly out on February 9 for a three-day trip. They will attend the 2019 Grammy Awards the next day at the Staples Center in LA and the after Grammy Party. They will be staying at the Marriot Courtyard Hotel right across from the Staples Center.
They shared that it may be a “culture shock for us going from Craig which is a small rural county to such a big city like LA, but we’re sure it’s going to be a great adventure for us.”
Excitement has filled their home with the reality of getting to go to California to the Grammy’s.
“We enjoy watching the Grammys on TV, but it’s not something we would ever consider doing live and up close,” Angie said. “We are plain down to earth country folks going on a big lifetime adventure and super excited and beyond blessed to do so. Did I mention that it’s free? It is going to be awesome.”
They added a word of wisdom: “When in doubt be sure to enter contests, even if your reluctant as you just never know when you might win. We feel very blessed to have won.”
