A little over a week ago, Rye Beals of Olney thought to himself, “It can’t be,” as he affixed the fifth and final tab to his Kalispell Albertsons’ game board under the $10,000 family vacation prize.

He showed it to the store management, who said it looked good. But Beals still didn’t  believe he had actually won.

“I’ve played different things but I never have won anything,” Beals said with a laugh. “When he called and said I had won, I about died! That was a total shock. I was jumping up and down.”

At 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jeff Brown, Albertsons’ store manager, and Amy Holtz, service operations manager, presented Beals with a huge cardboard check and a large cake. A group of black-aproned employees cheered for Brown as the first customer to win one of the jumbo prizes in the “Sizzlin’ Summer Giveaway” promotion.

“Thank you for being a loyal Albertsons customer,” Brown said.

Customers receive a game ticket each time they shop at the store and may qualify for bonus tickets by buying specially tagged products. Each ticket has either a discount coupon or sweepstakes entry code as well as four game markers to affix to the board under a variety of prizes.

The contest also will award $1 million to one person. Brown said a winner will be chosen from the sweepstakes entries if no one collects the six pieces needed on the game board to win the top prize before the game ends on Aug. 21.

According to a press release from company headquarters, Beals is the first big winner in the Intermountain West Division. Up to eight people may win $10,000.

Other prizes include cars, boats, vacations, backyard makeovers, a year’s worth of groceries, Kindle Fires, gift cards and smaller cash prizes.

Although Beals won the $10,000 family vacation, the single and recently retired pipefitter doesn’t plan to use the money for travel.

“I’m going to put it into a house,” he said in a phone interview before the presentation.

Beals, 58, began building on about 17 acres on Good Creek Road in Olney. He said he bought the property in the 1970s and finally is following his dream of building a house on it.

After wrapping up a final job in Billings, Beals moved here and built a garage with a bathroom on his property.

“That’s what I’ve been living in while I’ve been building my house,” he said.

 Serving as his own general contractor, he has had plumbers and electricians coming and going for days.

“I’ve been busy, busy, busy,” he said. “I’m definitely going to move in by fall.”

Although young to retire, Beals said the hard work of pipefitting has taken a toll on his body. He has had two hips replaced to date.

“My body is just wore out. I couldn’t do pipefitting any more,” he said. “So I’m pretty much out of the work end of it. I’ve traveled all over working and I’m not leaving Montana again.”

A fourth generation Montanan, he said he has lived on the east and west side of the state and has many friends here. Beals said he has journeyed to many places and has no desire for a vacation.

If he had only the option of taking a trip, he said he would go back to Costa Rica.

“There aren’t so many outrageously rude tourists like there are in Hawaii,” he said. “Anyone who complains about Montana should hit the road and see what the rest of the world is like — then they would appreciate Montana.”

Winning the $10,000 in the Albertsons’ sweepstakes has made his retirement and move here even sweeter.  

As a single man, Beals said he doesn’t buy a lot of groceries but stops in at Albertsons pretty often for odds and ends and snacks like chips. He said he spreads his grocery buying all over the valley.

Beals got hooked on the sweepstakes game and kept going to Albertsons and collecting the game pieces since the game started on May 16.

“I get into all these little stupid games,” he said with a laugh. “This one here is a pretty good deal. Really good.”

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.