By the time one local woman and her son made it to Rockingham Industrial Park West three weeks ago, the Richmond County Daily Journal Golden Egg was gone.

They went after the next best thing by entering their names in the Journal’s second-chance drawing for a $100 prepaid debit card.

“Second chances are great!” said Beulah Smith, after coming to claim her prize Monday morning. “When I called my son and told him I’d won, he said ‘great, I’m glad we got something out of that trip.’”

On March 21, Charles McIntyre of Ellerbe climbed down an embankment in Rockingham Industrial Park West and found the Richmond County Daily Journal’s Golden Egg. When he turned it in the following Monday, he won a $500 pre-paid debit card and a gift certificate for $250 in groceries from Edwards IGA in Rockingham.

According to Smith, she and her son drove to the industrial park that Sunday morning after Charles McIntyre of Ellerbe found the egg.

“We followed the clues every time one was in the paper,” said Smith. “We had gotten just about to where you turn in (to the industrial park) and my son said he didn’t know if it was open to the public. We had gotten that close.”

Following the most recent clue, they traveled to places where they could “hear the dogs bark,” like the Cooley’s Veterinary Clinic and the Richmond County Humane Society.

“We went by Farm Bureau, rode on up toward Wadesboro, then turned around and came back,” said Smith. “We went and plundered around uptown, even though they had said it wasn’t near the courthouse.”

Three weeks later, the lucky winner said she knows how she’s going to spend her extra cash.

“I’ll probably use it to do some home improvements,” she said. “I’ve been trying to do some Spring cleaning.”

Smith, now 67 and retired, has lived in the same Rockingham neighborhood since she was three years old. This year’s golden egg contest was her first; but she had a few lucky streaks during her 20 years as an employee of Sandhurst Hosiery.

“I won a few things when I was at the mill. They would have parties and my friends would say ‘You’re going to have to take Beulah’s name out of there. She’s winning too much,’” said Smith. “It’s been a while since I won anything. I was kind of shocked when he said it.”

In celebrating her win, Smith said she planned to spend the rest of Monday in her favorite place.

“I’ll be in the yard,” said Smith. “When it’s Spring I like to get outside. I love the outdoors.”