Armstrong’s Marty Eckert goes to his local Tim Hortons every day, and his faithful patronage has paid off in a big way.
Eckert was sitting at home on his couch one night in March when he realized he had 16 “rolls” on his Tim Hortons app from the Roll Up the Rim to Win contest.
“I was flipping away going through them and won a few coffees, and on the final one I won the car,” he said.
“I thought it was a joke. I had to call my wife to come and verify that it was actually real.”
Eckert is the winner of a 2023 fully loaded Volkswagen Taos Highline, one of 15 given away through the ever-popular Tim Hortons contest in Canada this year.
He and his family met with members of Vernon Volkswagen and Tim Hortons staff to receive the keys to his new ride outside the Armstrong Tim Hortons Wednesday morning, May 31.
He said he checked out the car beforehand, and “it’s real nice.”
Eckert isn’t sure what he’ll do with the vehicle yet — all he knows is it’s a pretty nice “bonus” for a cup of coffee.
Angela Sparrow, financial services manager with Vernon Volkswagen, said Eckert’s new vehicle has about a $40,000 value, and it’s one of the more popular models on their lot.
“Let’s put it this way — I don’t have any,” she said. “They sell out the minute they hit my lot.”
Handing the keys to Eckert was particularly rewarding for Sparrow; they’ve known each other for about 30 years.
“I grew up in Armstrong … I lived down the road from them,” she laughed. “And Marty came to me in March and showed me the email that he got from Volkswagen about winning and it was quite overwhelming.
“I’m just so excited for the Eckert family, it couldn’t have happened to a greater family, and I think it’s fantastic for Armstrong.”
Matt Moore, chief operating officer for Tim Hortons Canada, happened to be in the area on the morning of the key hand-off before heading to Calgary on a tour to talk with franchise owners. He was glad to be able to help Eckert celebrate.
“It’s amazing, the brand is special, the Roll Up, obviously it’s iconic, it’s been around for decades,” said Moore, who before becoming COO was part of Tim Hortons digital team and played a role in migrating the Roll Up contest from paper cups to the app.
“It’s great to celebrate it, the program’s exciting and I can’t wait to see more winners next year as well.”
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carsNew VehiclesNorth Okanagan Regional DistrictTim Hortons
