The 'Price' is Right

ast year, Steve Price’s son, Sid, made a decision that would change Price’s life.

Often hearing the Harvest United Methodist Church co-pastor guess the correct answers to “Wheel of Fortune” puzzles before the contestants, the teenager took matters into his own hands.

“You should be on the show, Dad,” Sid Price said. “I’m going to sign you up.”

Price’s son sent in an application for him, which would later land the father of two a spot on the game show. His show aired Nov. 26.

Last week, The Ranch Grill hosted a watch party that bustled with nearly 200 of Price’s friends and family, who were eager to learn the outcome of the pastor’s national television debut. Sworn to secrecy by show officials, Price kept the results a secret, even from his parents and in-laws.

Speculations as to what Price won — a car, $1 million or a trip to a foreign country — kept watch-party attendees intrigued as they waited for their guest of honor to arrive and watch the airing of the show with the group.

As Price visited table after table thanking everyone for coming and sharing the behind-the-scenes scoop of his appearance on “Wheel of Fortune,” his smile was constant.

One after another, guests at the watch party curiously asked Price the same question — how did he end up on the show?

After his son submitted the application, Price put the idea of being on the show on the backburner.

It took a few months for Price to receive an email asking him to submit a 30-second video showing why he should be a contestant on the show.

Using the show as his muse, Price crafted a paper-made puzzle that spelled out the phrase, “In it to win it.” With the I’s missing, Price solved the puzzle on camera. The video sealed the deal for him to audition earlier this year in Clearwater.

After rounds of auditions involving solving as many “Wheel of Fortune” puzzles as he could within 15 minutes and other mentally strenuous tests, he was chosen as one of the 25 finalists from the Clearwater auditions.

Two weeks and two days later, May 6, Price celebrated more than his wife, Catherine’s, birthday. Price couldn’t wait to tell his family the news — he had made it to the next round of auditions that later resulted in him making it on the show.

Price wasn’t going to travel to the taping alone, however, as he originally thought. Sid, Catherine, and his daughter, Shelby, unanimously decided that it needed to be a family affair, even though it was only a three-day trip.

“There was no way Sid was going to let me go without him,” Price said, laughing. “It was his idea, so he needed to be there.”

Price remembers the hectic day of the show’s taping in October at Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, Calif. He and the 11 other contestants anxiously absorbed as much as they could in four-and-a-half hours of training on proper wheel-spinning techniques, instructions on which cameras to look at and the proper volume and annunciation needed to speak on television.

With his family cheering him on from the audience, Price won four out of five puzzles and made it to the final round, in which he needed to guess a two-word “thing” for a chance to win the grand prize.

With letters R, S, T, L, N and E revealed first and his choices of G, C, D and I on the board, his mind was stuck on one word.

“I just kept thinking it was the word ‘balcony,’” Price said. “I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

With six blank letters left, and unable to shake the word running through his mind, time ran out. “Erupting volcano” was displayed as the answer.

Host Pat Sajak seemed to read Price’s thoughts, because he leaned over and said how hard it is to shake a word from your mind once you believe it to be the answer.

Disappointed once he saw he could have won $30,000 on that puzzle, he shook it off and smiled about the $10,400 he did win, along with the $1,000 he received for being a contestant on the show.

As the credits started to roll, Price, Sajak and Vanna White shared stories of “nothing in particular,” mainly conversations about Bradenton and his church, Price said. Or, perhaps Price is keeping those last exchanges secret, like he did with the results of the show.

As for his winnings, Price won’t be shopping or paying the tab for the watch party attendees’ dinners, like Harvest United Choir Director Dave Lewis jokingly suggested. Instead, Price is tucking away a portion of the winnings to go toward his children’s college funds. He also plans on making a donation to a program that is “near and dear to his heart,” Pack-a-Sack, which gives needy children food to take home for the weekend.

“Everything on that final wheel was for a lot of money,” Price said. “It would have been nice to win the higher amount, but I’m thankful for the chance and for what I have.”

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].