Come on down!

PERKINS TWP. — Jason Ziegler heard those three magic words leading up to his big win. Jason, a Perkins High School intervention specialist and former football coach, took a break from his California vacation to try his luck on the famous television game show,"The Price is Right." His big moment was recorded over the summer, but he had to wait for the Thanksgiving episode to air last Wednesday before he could celebrate. Jason said the hardest part was keeping it a secret. He was told to sign a non-disclosure agreement or else he would lose his prizes. His wife, Kerri Ziegler, was a fan of the show for years and the reason he had the opportunity. His wife broke the news to him by asking what he thought of a vacation to California. Jason said he was excited about sightseeing but inquired, "What's the catch?" "She got special shirts for the show, and she was all excited," Jason said. Kerri had applied online and won tickets for the screenings of what would become the show's Thanksgiving and Halloween specials. Jason and Kerri were in the audience this past June while the show recorded its themed episodes. While Jason made his TV debut on the Thanksgiving show, Kerri was selected as a contestant in the Halloween episode but did not come away with any prizes that day. She made it to Bidder's Row but did not make it past that point in the game. 'A roller coaster of emotion' Jason said the excitement began at 6 a.m. in a small hot room where they signed all the paperwork and got their pictures taken. Any chance they had of being the next contestants seemed doubtful once they saw where they were going to be seated in the studio, behind the show's announcer. Jason said all he cared about at that point was leaving the hot room. "As we're going in we sit down and my wife says, 'We're not going to get called on. This is the worst place,'" Jason said. Jason said it was hard to hear the names called so when he looked up and saw his name on a sign he thought to himself, "Holy schnikes." When he got down to the show's Bidders Row, where contestants bid on the value of possible prizes, he bid on Burberry cold-weather accessories, including scarves, gloves and earmuffs. Jason's guess of $1,431 and was the closest to the actual value of $2,680. "It's like a roller coaster of emotion," Jason said. "The first time they call your name, you're just losing it. Then you get on there and see the cameras on you and then you realize you win. You're like, 'Okay, now it's getting real.'" There was cut content from the episode that aired but Jason said he and the host, Drew Carey, talked about the Cleveland Browns, Cedar Point and the Sandusky area. Jason turned to his wife again for the Bargain Game where he was asked to guess between a Vermont vacation and a Hawaii vacation on which price tag displayed was lower than the real value. When Carey asked Jason, who he referred to as "Mr. Sandusky," for his answer — after conferring with Kerri — he correctly guessed the Hawaii vacation, winning both trips along with the Burberry clothes. "At the end of the day, you're just grateful for the experience and the 15 minutes of fame," Jason said. A local celebrity? Jason said he was recently recognized by a cashier while shopping and asked for a picture. People from his past, his family and colleagues reached out to him to say they saw him on TV. Jason said leading up to the trip, their family would watch the show as a means of prepping for their big day. Jason said his family would beckon him to watch and play along with them, but he didn't want to make those preparations — he said his game plan was to simply seek Kerri's advice during the taping. "That's the strategy I went with," Jason said. "Whatever she tells me to do, that's what I'm going to do. And it worked." Jason said it was a great experience for him and his wife. His favorite part was for Kerri to fulfill her childhood dream of being on "The Price is Right." "Even when we left she couldn't believe it. It was total shock," Jason said. "When I saw her with her (contestant's) name card, she was smiling ear to ear. That was the best part. My wife's childhood dream. Something she has always wanted to do, she got to do."