Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol delivers $1 million check to Chambersburg man

“Oh my gosh” were the first words out of Rodney Small’s mouth after he learned he won $1 million from Publishers Clearing House.

Holding an oversize check, roses and champagne, Howie Guja of the PCH Prize Patrol told Small of his PCH Lotto win Tuesday afternoon, May 16.

A PCH videographer and journalists from local news outlets captured the moment in the grass off the parking lot at the Franklin Learning Center in Chambersburg, a school for special needs students, where Small works.

“It’s unreal,” said Small. “I’ve been playing for many years … I just keep playing and here, it paid off.”

The new millionaire was calm, cool and collected as he absorbed the news. His soft-spoken, low-key, patient personality is why a friend recommended him for a learning center job in the first place.

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He’s been the personal care assistant for a now-18-year-old autistic girl since she was 12. Students can remain at the learning center until they are 21 and Small has no plans to leave her side, despite the big boost to his bank account.

The 61-year-old still intends to work until the full Social Security age of 67, but the winnings will “shore up retirement” for Small and his wife of 35 years, Glenda, who also works with special-needs children.

“We don’t want it to change our lives much,” he said several hours after meeting the PCH Prize Patrol, picking his wife up at South Hamilton Elementary School and returning to their home on Edenville Road a few miles outside of Chambersburg.

“She’s in shock like I am. There are lots of things to think about,” he said.

The Smalls like cruise vacations, especially to Alaska, and he dreams of a cruise to Hawaii leaving from the West Coast so he can “enjoy the time on the ocean.”

How did the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol end up in Chambersburg?

Once known for its magazine subscriptions, PCH is today an interactive media company with a range of products and digital entertainment options, including free-to-play games and sweepstakes.

Small plays PCH games regularly because they are free and he can do it from the comfort of his own home. He won the $1 million PCH Lotto on May 4 with numbers he picked randomly.

Guja, along with videographer George Mantzoutsos, rolled into the parking lot of the Giant food store on Norland Avenue, Chambersburg, shortly after noon to pick up a bouquet of roses, fill PCH balloons with helium and meet journalists.

They rolled out of town in a five-vehicle caravan, with one stop so Guja could film a promo overlooking a field.

The group parked across the road from the Smalls’ home and Guja loaded himself up with the flowers, champagne and the big check.

He walked to the front door, rang the bell and waited. Then, in his own words, “aggressively” rang the bell again, peeped through the glass of the door and waited, and waited, and waited.

When no one answered, the entourage trooped around the house to the back door, where the same thing happened.

When the Prize Patrol comes calling, the winner isn’t home about 1 in 5 times, and Guja set out door-to-door looking for help from neighbors. He hit pay dirt at a farm a little way down the road, where he was able to connect with Small by phone, told him he had an important delivery — without revealing any details — and arranged to meet at the learning center.

When the Prize Patrol arrived, Guja called Small, who walked among rows of cars in the parking lot, approaching the cameras.

“That’s who I’m looking for,” Guja called out. “You figure out what’s going on yet?”

“Is this Publishers Clearing House?” Small asked.

“You got it,” said Guja, who went on to tell him the dollar amount and hand over the giant check, saying, “Try that on.”

“I can’t hardly believe this,” Small said.

How did hope keep him playing with Publishers Clearing House?

After several interviews, Small returned to the learning center to finish his day and then, accompanied by Guja and Mantzoutsos, went to pick up his wife.

Guja introduced himself and she looked into the backseat of her husband’s vehicle.

“She was very surprised, her mouth dropped open, she couldn’t believe it,” Small said.

“We’re a hard-working family, just a middle-class family,” Small said. They have two grown daughters, Amy, who lives in Arizona and has four children, and Elizabeth, who lives in Shippensburg. They lost son, Little Rodney, at 16.

Daughter Amy is deaf, and both the Smalls use sign language in their jobs with the Lincoln Intermediate Unit.

“I enjoy what I do. The girl I’m with really needs me,” said Small, who helps her one-on-one through the day from the time she gets off a van in the morning until she leaves in the afternoon. She doesn’t speak so they need sign language to communicate.

Glenda Small works as an intervener and interpreter for students who are deaf and blind.

Small called winning the PCH Lotto the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to him, but said he always has hope.

He explained that in church, “the pastor talks about hope … holding on to some things you can’t see. I keep hope alive and it’s amazing how it paid off.”

Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com