When a 1975 ETSU graduate went on vacation to Los Angeles, Calif., she never expected to be chosen to be a contestant on The Price is Right.
And even more so, she never expected to run into someone on the same show on the same day who also has a connection to ETSU.
When Betsy Gentry, 53, and ETSU Junior Jeremy Adams met during a commercial break, it was fate.
Gentry, from Cleveland, Tenn., said that the experience was unforgettable.
On June 2, the day before her vacation was to end, Gentry decided to go out with a bang and to see a filming of The Price is Right, hosted by actor Drew Carey.
She left her hotel at 4 a.m., thinking that she would be among the first there, and she arrived at the studio at 5 a.m.
Some avid Carey fans had camped out the night before outside the studio, so when she got there, 100 people were already ahead of her.
At 8 a.m., the office gave out tickets. Then, at 9:30, potential audience members had to fill out information and give out their social security numbers.
A background check was performed on every member of the audience, “to make sure no one was a murderer or anything,” Gentry said. “That takes forever.”
Then, Gentry said, comes the monumental moment – meeting the producers.
The producers are the ones who decide which lucky audience members are chosen to play the game. Gentry said that each person gets about 10 seconds to talk with a producer.
She was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Cleveland Tennessee Rocks!”
She told the producer that she was a special education teacher, and also that she wanted the chance to get on stage and tell Carey that Cleveland, Tenn., is the real Cleveland.
He laughed, Gentry said. And then it was time to move on down the line.
“I couldn’t believe I was chosen,” Gentry said.
She was the fourth person called to be a contestant.
When she heard her name, she said she thought, “Hey, that sounds like my name.”
She didn’t realize that she was going to be a contestant until she looked onstage, and saw her name spelled out before her.
On the show, Gentry won a table, newfound admiration for Drew Carey and memories that she wouldn’t soon forget.
“I was thinking – because I watched Bob Barker since 1970 – I thought, how can Drew Carey compete with him? But he was just as good, I think,” she said.
Carey was very personable and worked hard to make the contestants feel comfortable, she said.
The strange connection came during a commercial, when she talked to a young college student who sat down beside her.
When Carey asked them where they were from, she said “Cleveland” and Adams said “Sevierville.” They started talking, Gentry said, and she found out that Adams was a current student at ETSU.
“It’s really a small world,” she said.
The years that Gentry spent at ETSU were wonderful, she said, and while she was a student she majored in dental hygiene and health education.
“I loved it,” she said of her college experience, “It was my first time away from home.”
Adams had been called to be a contestant right after her, and they faced off during a portion of the show known as the “showdown.” Gentry said proudly that she beat Adams by winning $0.97.
The show was a lot of fun, Gentry said, and she can’t wait until her table arrives in the mail.
“I have a lot of good memories,” she said. “It’s something I’ll never forget.

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