By Ida Brown / ibrown@themeridianstar.com
The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN — When Lauderdale resident Rose Marie Schultz answered an early morning call Wednesday, she didn't expect to hear talk show host Kelly Ripa on the other end.
"I thought my friend was calling me, because it was early – a quarter after 8," said Schultz, who is originally from Levittown, Penn. "And here it was Kelly. I said, 'Oh, my God!'"
The co-host of "Live! With Regis and Kelly" and her guest host, rapper and actor Ludacris, were calling to inform Schultz that she was selected the day's participant in "Spring Fling Trivia A Go-Go."
"You had to send in a picture of yourself – I sent mine by mail; I don't know how to do it on the
Internet," she said.
"I said, 'If they call me, they call me,' and here they called me on the third day of the new contest. I couldn't believe it."
The submitted photo featured Schultz dressed in a robe and leaning on a pillow on her bed. She added a sticker that said, "Call me."
"You can send any picture in, but they like to see something showing a person waking up or centered around that theme," she said.
The talk show hosts spin a wheel to determine the prize or prizes that will be won if the contestant correctly answers that day's trivia question about a previous show's broadcast. Schultz was prepared.
"I take notes on everything; if you don't take notes sometimes it's hard to remember everything," she said. "I've been taking notes of the show for about four years – I have three or four notebooks filled. And I tape the show."
Her question: Who wrote the play "Race?" which stars Emmy Award-winning "The Practice" and "Boston Legal" star James Spader.
The answer: Playwright and screenwriter David Mamet.
And for her correct answer, Schultz won a trip to the West Indies island of Antigua.
"This time it's a different place," she said, referring to her second win on the morning talk show. In 2007, Schultz won a trip to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands for her correct answer to a trivia question.
"They called me and the question was from a taped show, not one from the day before. But I knew the answer. They asked how many models were on 'Deal or No Deal,' and I knew the answer was 26," she said.
Last fall, Schultz traveled to New Orleans to watch a broadcast of "Live! With Regis and Kelly."
"With them being so close, me and a friend went down there and went to two shows," she said.
Schultz said she has no idea why she's been so lucky in being selected twice by "Regis and Kelly," but admits that she did do a little something extra for her most recent submission.
"I put stickers all over the envelope – flowers and butterflies. I did that thinking it would make it more noticeable; I don't know if that did it or not," she said.
Schultz and her husband, Francis, have lived in Lauderdale 10 years. The couple has four sons and each joined the Navy. When their son John settled in the Meridian area, the couple decided to join him.
"We've enjoyed living here," she said.
Schultz is a doll collector and a member of the Carousel Doll Club. She also is a member of the local chapter of AARP. And she enjoys traveling, especially to Mississippi locales.
"I like to go on bus trips and find out things about Mississippi – and Alabama, too," she said.
