Warwick on their minds

WARWICK — Atlanta, Ga., residents Mark and Belinda Burrow, were winning contestants on the popular TV show, The Price is Right. And they won thousands of dollars worth of prizes including a new car.
They also had a bidding choice between a package that included an all expenses paid vacation at a tropical resort and another that included a stay in Warwick, N.Y.
They picked Warwick.
The Price is Right is a CBS game show where contestants win prizes by having the closest estimate of the value of a merchandise package.
In July 2011, the Burrows had tickets to a tape recording of the popular show.
“There were about 400 people in line,” said Mark Burrow, an avionics Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) for Delta Airlines. “They interviewed us in line and we were selected to be contestants.”
The show’s theme that day was “apples.” And the group of prizes included a candy apple red Ford Mustang, an Apple computer and a four-night stay at Warwick’s Ashford Cottage Bed and Breakfast. The show was not scheduled to air until last October, during the height of the apple-picking season in Warwick. And the Burrows postponed their visit until this September.
“CBS contacted me and not the other way around,” said Ashford’s owner Terry Colman. “They had performed an online search of all the local places to stay and selected this one.”
At first Colman thought the network was asking him to advertise, an unlikely choice considering the extraordinary cost. But when they explained that his B&B would receive national exposure and publicity on The Price is Right in exchange for a four-night stay in his best room, the Emerald Suite, he agreed.
As part of their winnings, the Burrows also had a free rental car and they made good use of it.
“We visited West Point,” said Mark Burrow, who is a U.S. Navy veteran. “And we went apple picking at Applewood Orchards and hiked the Appalachian Trail.”
The couple also shopped locally and dined at many of Warwick’s fine restaurants.
“I think visiting Warwick was our premium prize,” he said. “People think visiting New York means only seeing the City. We’ve done that. But this area was a wonderful surprise that we would have never known about. I plan to suggest to my company, Delta, that they include it on their Web site list of favorite travel destinations.”