Every spring, Canadians line up at Tim Hortons for a chance to Rrroll up the Rim to Win all sorts of prizes. Actually, many Canadians line up at Tim Hortons every day of the year but irregular customers like myself make the effort to visit at least a couple of times during the contest. Tim Hortons restaurants are the pubs of Canada with most communities boasting at least one franchise and neighbourhoods like the one I live in having four within walking distance. During the contest each beverage cup has a message under the rim and prizes range from free food to a new vehicle. I needed to warm up on a cold day and entered the drive through lane in the small town of St. Jacobs to buy a hot steeped tea.
And there in front of me was a horse and buggy. At first I thought it was going through the drive through, but the horse was tied to the fence and the owners had gone inside to order. A few years ago a McDonalds restaurant opened in the nearby town of Elmira. An observant photographer captured a young Mennonite couple in an open buggy at the drive through window. But it is uncommon to see these people at fast food joints.
I bought my tea and when I was done, rolled up to rim to read the message Please Play Again. I am not a lucky gaming person. But what do you bet that the owner of this buggy was destined to win one of the new Toyota vehicles or perhaps the laptop computer? I am sure they would be luckier than me and would sell their winnings for some ready cash.
I was in Aylmer Ontario to see the Tundra Swans this week. The county has the only Amish community in the province and they are a different Anabaptist sect than the Old Order Mennonites of Waterloo Region. Aylmer is also home to a number of Mexican Mennonites, people of German origin who settled in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Many of them have moved to Ontario and their dress and customs are different again than the other Mennonites here. The sign on this store made me smile. They have retained some of the culture of their chosen country just as the owner of the buggy is enjoying a little bit of the local Canadian culture.
RRRoll up the Rim!! What did you win?
Up until about a month ago I was an "everyday" frequenter to Timmies. Like everybody else, I had to have my morning Tim's. One day I decided that I would start to bring coffee to work from home. I'm at work 15 minutes earlier now and I have not missed going to Timmies. The first day of the contest was my last day going and I won a free coffee. I pass it along.
ReplyDeleteJust like everybody the Mennonites have a hard time resisting temptations. I never thought about them winning a car or laptop...that was funny.
You certainly live in a mixed culture.Albeit,so do I .We have a young Mexican-Mennonite couple living next door.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,Ruth
Hello, I just found you on Mary's blog...I'm a fellow canadian blogger...nice 'meeting' you!
ReplyDeleteRuth,
ReplyDeleteI seldom go to Timmie's but hubby gets his coffee for work there every night. It costs a lot when you add it up.
I never thought about Mennonites going to Tim's. I do hope they won something.
Enjoyed your post and am now going to take a peek at your tundra photos.
Blessings,
Mary
Last year I won a five-pound solid chocolate bunny. I gave it to my neighbors who have 3 grandsons. They think our Easter Bunny is pretty special.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I never thought about Mexican Mennonites. Interesting.
I'm not a Timmie's person myself, but I have rolled up a few rims, mostly when people litter them and they blow onto my lawn - happens quite a lot actually. I thought it would be fitting karma for them to toss and me to pick up and win, but alas, not yet anyway!
ReplyDeleteTim Horton's coffee! My dad loves it, and asks Canadian friends to bring some along when they visit the U.S.
ReplyDeletePlease Play Again - hubby and I have had so many of these lately. We are wondering if the employees take all the prizes. Just kidding.
ReplyDeleteWe've won doughnuts (usually exchange it for a muffin) and coffee in the past. That's it. But it's better than nothing.
Ha! Wouldn't that just take the cake of that horse and buggy couple did win a toyota or laptop. LOL!
I saw two elderly gentlemen going through the drive through (last summer) in their motorized scooters. I thought that was funny. But your horse and buggy surely beats that (even though they didn't go through, but it looked like they did).
I won a coffee yesterday morning.
ReplyDeleteA friend tossed her cup the other day, realized she'd forgotten to roll up the rim, and turned around and drove 10 minutes to rummage through the garbage can to see if she'd won...she hadn't!
Oh I have never heard of roll up the rim..I am going to tell my mother in CT. they have a tim hortons there...they love the soup.
ReplyDeleteI hope you win big...real big.
Nice to have cultural diversity. Hope you have better luck next time under the rim.
ReplyDeleteNow that is an odd thought! Mexican Mennonites? Huh. Well, who knew!
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of Tim Hortons, but that certainly is a clever way to get traffic to the business. :c)
We, as in Cuppa, have managed two coffees and one donut. This is a good year for us. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI used to go to Tim's a lot, back when I was in the GTA and it was on my way to work, but finding myself now 45 minutes from the nearest store, Tim's is a special trip and a bit of a luxury.
ReplyDeleteI'd only ever won coffees/donuts/cookies, which I happily redeemed, but even if I won something bigger I couldn't claim it - my dad works for Tim Hortons in their distribution centre. Of course, I might be able to persuade a friend to claim it and then "sell" it to me...
Cheryl- I go to Tim's about half a dozen times a year. I don't drink coffee and prefer my tea steeped in my brown teapot. Glad you won!
ReplyDeleteRuth- My husband works with some Mexican Mennonites so I hear about their culture.
Deborah-Thanks for dropping by. You lead a busy and interesting life!
Mary- My husband goes pretty much daily as well, but he is not an extravagent spender in other areas, so why not enjoy a really good coffee.
NCMW- 5 lbs of chocolate! If it had been good dark chocolate I don't know if I would have parted with it.
Deborah- Do you remember this story about a discarded cup?
In March 2006, two families were fighting over the Toyota RAV4 SUV prize of C$32,000 value after their daughters found a winning "roll up the rim" coffee cup in a garbage bin of an elementary school in Saint-Jérôme, north of Montreal. The younger girl had found a cup in the garbage bin and could not roll up the rim, so requested the help of an older girl. Once the winning cup was revealed, the older girl's family stated that they deserved the prize. Tim Hortons originally stated that they would not intervene in the dispute. A further complication arose when Quebec lawyer Claude Archambault requested a DNA test be done on the cup. He claimed that his unnamed client had thrown out the cup and was the rightful recipient of the prize. On April 19, 2006, Tim Hortons announced that they had decided to award the prize to the parents of the girl who had initially discovered the cup.
KGMOM- There are a few franchises now in the US near the border, but none as far south as you are in Pennsylvania. Let me know if you need some mailed to you.
Wendy- Please Play Again is the story of my last 4 or 5 years...
Karen- If she hadn't driven back she would have been haunted by the possibilities for sure.
(100, 93, 86, 79, 72...your formula works!)
Dawn- I don't even know if they have the contest in the USA. She will have to check, if not, she can enjoy a maple donut ;-)
Gaelyn- I doubt I will try again this year.
Jayne- I have seen them in northern Mexico selling cheese on the highway. They have kept many aspects of their German culture.
AC- Not bad, but a car would be better...
Seabrooke- Call me if you win! I will resell cheaply.