For one day during the State Fair, Latham resident Stephanie Place made thousands of girls around the fair, state, country and even world extremely jealous.
On that day, Friday, Aug. 29, Place had a Jonas brother on each arm.
Place, 19, a fan of the Jonas Brothers and first-year student at the College of St. Rose, had tickets to see the teen-pop band, made up of Kevin, Nick and Joe Jonas, perform at the State Fair in Syracuse, but she wanted to do more than just see them in concert she wanted to meet them.
So, over a month ago, she entered the Chevy Rocks the Road with the Jonas Brothers contest, a contest sponsored by the automobile manufacturer to promote its energy-efficient automobile line.
I had heard about it online,` Place said. `If you make a poster promoting the Chevy [hybrid] car ` you have to have the Chevy logo on it — and you brought it to whichever concert you were going to, they would pick the winner who would meet [the Jonas Brothers].`
Contest guidelines stated that a contestant should create a poster about what Chevy’s gas-friendly campaign means to them, as well as the importance of thinking and living green. The winner would get a Jonas Brothers `VIP experience,` with VIP tickets, parking and a meet-and-greet with the band.
According to her mother, Deborah Place, Stephanie Place worked tirelessly on her poster for over a month. Stephanie’s poster depicted the 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, a large tree and the Jonas Brothers’ faces in the sky above the tree.
`I hand drew everything,` Place said.
Once she arrived at the show, she was instructed to look for the official `Chevy Spotters` wearing green shirts, and show off her poster.
As the time neared for her to present her poster to the judges who would determine whether she would be the lucky fan to meet her idols, Place said she was apprehensive because she had heard negative things from previous contest participants about how fierce the competition was.
`I head that the lines were like a mile long,` she said. `My mom took me, and we went really early to try to get in line.`
Place’s poster was examined by the judges, and she was told the winner would be announced shortly.
A few moments later, Stephanie noticed all the posters being hung on the fence for the crowd to see. All of the posters except hers.
`I was really nervous because the girl who was right behind me in line, I thought hers was amazing, and they hung up all the posters, but they never hung mine up,` Stephanie said. `I was trying to figure out why mine wasn’t up there.`
Suddenly, it all made sense.
`They called my name, and I was like, ‘Mom, what name did they say?’` she said. `All the girls around me were like ‘Why aren’t you screaming?`
Deborah Place said she was also shocked when her daughter’s name was called.
`It was a combination of surprise and thinking that they got it right,` she said. `I thought hers was so good, but you never know what they’re really looking for. It was kind of funny because everyone in the audience was her competition.`
After her name was announced, Place was called to the stage, but she was not the only one. Shortly after, Deborah Place was called to the stage, too.
On stage, contest representatives exchanged the Places’ tickets for front-row seats, and invited them to meet the Jonas Brothers before the show began.
After a few photos and a performance mother and daughter will never forget, the two returned home with smiles, satisfaction and appreciation. They also returned home without the poster. According to Place, the Jonas Brothers got to keep it.
“