The Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol made a stop in Richmond Hill on Wednesday, Dec. 8, and awarded Eddie Cox $17,046.

One could almost say he worked for it.

“I entered every day for six months. You can’t enter here and there when you feel like it. You have to be persistent,” Cox said, after receiving the check along with an over-sized check, flowers and balloons.

This award is his sixth and biggest win. And it came a perfect time.

“Monday is mine and my wife’s 34th wedding anniversary,” he said. “We are taking a little vacation to the mountains. Rachel is going to freak out when she hears we won.”

Howie Guja is the Publishers Clearing House representative who presented Cox with his prize.

“I travel every week to give people prizes. Some people are shocked and ecstatic, while others are calm and just say thank you,” Guja said. “We offer the prize package they entered for first and then offer a check that matches the value of all of the prizes. Almost everyone takes the check instead of the prize package.”