Severe thunderstorm warnings Saturday morning didn’t deter Nancy Palmeri, as she headed out to a Florida Lottery event at Lake Sumter Landing. She had to drag along her husband John but once there, he wandered off to get a good view of Vanna White, the longtime Wheel of Fortune personality who was the featured celebrity.
“I can’t get over slender she is,” John said.
Split interests were common as hundreds of people opened umbrellas and braved ominous skies and a steady drizzle to buy a new lottery game ticket or to catch a glimpse of the ageless game show letter-turner.
There were tents for the Florida Lottery around the town square with clacking spinning wheels, that had prizes of t-shirts, mugs and tickets for the new $5 Wheel of Fortune tickets. Although the game won’t officially debut until next week, crowds at Lake Sumter could buy or win the new tickets at the preview event.
Early on, Villagers for Vanna waited in front of a stage as the DJ played topical tunes from “Who’ll Stop the Rain?” by Creedence Clearwater Revival to “Blame it On the Rain” by lip synch champs Milli Vanilli.
Front-row fans Sherry and Rick Adamson of the Village of LaBelle North moved to the The Villages just last month. They have watched White on Wheel of Fortune for years and Sherry said she also admired the 59-year-old White’s youthful beauty.
“I want to know her secret,” she said.
White arrived in a black Mercedes shortly after 9:30 a.m. to a crowd eager to see her and get a photo. She told the crowd it was her first visit to The Villages. She then moved through the crowd to get to a radio interview. The game show host was gracious and friendly with the scores of fans waving and calling her name. She was scheduled to do Q&A with the crowd and sign autographs later in the morning.
Lottery fans were focused elsewhere. Rebecca Knight made the trip from Lakeland, because she’s been having a run of luck at Florida Lottery events. In 2015, she won $9,000 at a lottery event the Florida State Fair through scratch off tickets. This year, again at the state fair, she nabbed another $12,000 in lottery winnings. Safe under her Florida Lottery umbrella, she was scratching off more tickets, hoping Saturday would be another big day.
Still, the real ruckus happened every time White moved through the crowd to another location. During one pass through, a woman yelled from the crowd:
“Vanna! My husband loves you!“ she shouted. “He’s 91!”
White flashed her signature smile and laughed.
