Contestant for The Log’s prize giveaway wins for a second time

FOUNTAIN VALLEY—Winning the lottery once is strange enough, but imagine having a second consecutive win. That’s exactly what happened to John Melton, this year’s winner of The Log’s prize giveaway at Fred Hall Shows in Long Beach and Del Mar.

Melton previously won a kayak in 2017. In 2018, The Log did not hold a competition, making Melton a consecutive winner for the prize giveaway.

During the Del Mar Fred Hall Show, Melton came to The Log’s booth, questioning whether he should enter the drawing again since he previously won a kayak. However, he was encouraged to participate as there aren’t guidelines stating winners cannot enter another competition. Melton shared a comical story with The Log over the phone.

Near the booth Melton noticed “a guy with a bottle of Coke who wasn’t really paying attention.” Sure enough, the gentleman spilled soda all over the floor in front of The Log’s booth. Melton, eager to help, grabbed a few of the papers and cleaned up the mess.

For his troubles, the employee manning the booth at the time stated, “After all that, you deserve to win.” Little did they know their tongue-in-cheek conversation would come to pass.

“I’m going to have to wrestle the paddleboard from my wife,” Melton said. His wife Sandy is also an avid paddleboarder.

Based in Camarillo, Melton is originally from Costa Mesa. He’s currently an aeronautical engineer and is looking forward to retirement when he’ll be able to get out on the water a little more.

“I have a smaller boat, but I’m hoping to upgrade to a nicer boat that could stand up to the ocean in a few years,” Melton said.

Melton, who gave the kayak to his son, is excited to get onto the water with his entire family.

Sometimes events can seem more than coincidence, but this is one time where it truly was a strange happening. The Log has a prize selection committee that chooses the winners – many staff members were just as baffled by the happening.

The Log’s Managing Editor Parimal M. Rohit stated, “He [Melton] should play the lottery!”

Every couple of years or so, The Log presents a prize drawing for readers.This year The Log received 550 entries into its prize drawing, which gave Melton a .002 percent chance of winning the drawing this year alone. If the entries were about the same in 2017, that gave Melton a .00004 percent chance of winning the second time around.

Thanks to Melton, who was not only a Good Samaritan, but who gave us a great story to pass on – we hope to see you at Fred Hall next year!