Gone in 120 seconds

On Friday morning at Albertsons in Malta, Ann Sautter readied herself for a once in a lifetime shopping spree as she was recently named the Malta Chamber of Commerce Two Minutes to Win It winner.

Sautter's mother, Jean Niebur, entered her daughter in the contest and was surprised when her name was called.

"I only entered the contest one time at Valley Drug and she got picked," Niebur said.

Sautter, a regular shopper at the Malta Albertsons, said she knew the layout of the store very well and her strategy was somewhat helter-skelter.

"I know I have to try and hit every isle," she said. "Other than that, it is kind of all up in the air. I just hope I get close to $500 as I possibly can."

Sautter's children, 8-year-old Ashlyn and six-year-old Carson, both let their mother know of a few items they had their eyes on in the store and armed with that, Sautter approached the starting line, shopping cart handle gripped firmly in both hands, and she awaited the countdown to the beginning of the Two Minute to Win It shopping spree.

Sautter hurried down the first isle and grabbed some dishwasher detergent and laundry soap before skidding her way down isle two for some frozen food and the like.

"I didn't know she could run that fast," Albertsons' store manager Cheryl Voegel shouted as Sautter flew past her.

Into the cart went crab legs, garden hoses, cereal, steak, milk, a turkey, some ham and a laundry list of other items.

When the clock hit two minutes, "time" was called and Sautter stopped dead in her tracks. Her grocery haul was pushed to a checkout at the front of the store and the scanner started beeping viscously. When everything had been scanned, Sautter had hit the $500 limit (actually, just under at $499.34) on the shopping spree – in fact she would have well exceeded it with the items in her cart – and passed last year's spree winner Terry Skiff's total of $431.83, setting a new record.

"That was crazy," Sautter said after the two minutes was up. "That was the best workout I have had in a long time and all in two minutes."

Sautter said the she missed out on a few items that she had thought about before the event started, but admitted that strategy was out the window as soon as she hit the starting line.

"It was great and I want to thank my mom for signing me up," she said.

Ashlyn, the new owner of a bouncy ball won by her mother, said she was proud of mom's effort and didn't think she could have done anything different.

"Thank you mom," she said.

Sautter admitted that dinner on Friday night would likely be seafood.

Sautter thanked the Malta Chamber and all of the local businesses who sponsored the Two Minutes to Win It Contest including Albertsons who hosted the event.