Sahuarita woman wins meeting with Toby Keith

Priscilla Rodriguez says she’s never won anything in her life.

But Wednesday, the 37-year-old Sahuarita letter carrier’s luck changed. A member of the Toby Keith fan club, Rodriguez won two tickets to a personal meet-and-greet with the Oklahoma-born country crooner.

“I’m thrilled to pieces,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just an honor to be able to meet him. Wow!”

A loyal fan of the “Big Dog Daddy,” as he’s known, Rodriguez entered her e-mail address in a monthly fan club contest, but didn’t think much of it.

On Wednesday, she said she logged into the Toby Keith Warriors official fan club Web site to buy tickets to a fan party that the guitar slinger is slated to attend at his Mesa restaurant, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill.

What she found waiting for her on the main page was an auspicious message: “Congratulations to Priscilla R. of Sahuarita AZ! She’s the latest Click ’N Win winner among Toby’s fans.”

Keith’s congratulation to Priscilla resonated across the Web in the form of posts on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, too.

But still doubtful that she was the same lucky “Priscilla R.,” Rodriguez checked her e-mail and lo and behold, there was a message in her inbox notifying her of the victory.

“This came as a great surprise,” she said. “I love his music, I love his movies. He’s awesome.”

Since she already has tickets to Keith’s upcoming America’s Toughest Tour date in Phoenix Aug. 14,, where he’ll be sharing the stage with Trace Adkins, Rodriguez said she’ll cash in her prize there for a backstage rendezvous. It’ll be her first time seeing the singer live.

“I wasn’t going to miss that concert for anything,” she said. “To me, it’s the concert of the year.”

But for a fan who admits she has a little bit of a crush on the best-selling balladeer, she said she’ll be a little bit nervous.

“I don’t know what I’ll say to him,” she said. “I think I’ll be too much in shock to be able to say anything”

dnewhauser@gvnews.com / 547-9749