Subscribing to the Greensburg Daily News, playing along and following the clues for the annual Christmas Cash contest paid off for a local group of ladies on Friday.

Sandra Gabbard, Jenny Wamsley, Carol Wright, Rhonda White and Krissy Kern stormed into the Daily News office shortly after 12 p.m., proudly and excitedly claiming to have found the prize. Once they provided proof, publisher Laura Welborn announced that the group would indeed be receiving the cash.

For weeks, clues have been cropping up in the newspaper, waiting for a keen eye, or a set of keen eyes, to decipher the hints and crack the code.

During their lunch hour, the ladies would huddle together over the paper and then scour the county. The group hit pay dirt at a park in St. Paul.

“We read the clues every day. But it was about the thrill for us,” White said.

Several expeditions to the St. Paul area had been undertaken by the women.

“We know St. Paul very well now,” White added. “Once we got to the park, we found it right away.”

The discovery came as a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one. The group reaction to the find garnered strange looks from passers-by, as the discovery caused the ladies to rigorously celebrate.

“We just jumped up and down like maniacs,” White said.

Though the search started out as a casual endeavor, it quickly became more for the group of friends.

“We first started and all got hooked, and then we got obsessed,” White noted. “It was a lot of fun.”

With more newspaper contests promised by Welborn, the lucky ladies plan to be back for more, if they can.

“We will be back next year. Unless the boss sees how we’ve been using our lunch breaks,” White joked.