Yellowknife teen rolls up the rim, wins a new car

The Canadian pastime of rolling up the rims of paper Tim Hortons coffee cups in hopes of winning a prize has netted a Yellowknife high school student the keysto a new car he says he'll take with him to college.

Robert Beaulieu Jr., 18, discovered the words "Win Toyota Venza" under the rim of his Tim Hortons cup on Friday night, indicating he won a 2009 Toyota Venza as part of the coffee chain's Roll Up the Rim to Win contest.

"Rolled the rim up, and I was like, 'No way,'" Beaulieu, who professes to drink about 12 cups of coffee a week, told CBC News on Tuesday.

"Rolled it down, rolled it back up. 'Can't be.' Rolled it down, rolled it back up, turned the light on, and I was like, 'I'm going to give the parents a call.'"

Beaulieu's mother answered the phone first. His father, Robert Beaulieu Sr., said he did not know what was happening at first.

"When he did call back, and I heard all this exciting yelling, I thought he crashed my vehicle," the elder Beaulieu said with a chuckle.

"I was pleasantly surprised."

Tim Hortons officials have yet to officially confirm Beaulieu's win. As of late Wednesday, the company's website did not show any major prizes won in the Northwest Territories.

Still, Beaulieu's big win has created a big buzz around Yellowknife especially at the city's lone Tim Hortons location, where the Beaulieu family brought the winning coffee cup to staff.

"The supervisor, well her eyes nearly bugged out when she saw the cup," the senior Beaulieu said.

"At first, I thought I lost the cup because she went off running into the back area, into the kitchen area, and [I] had a tense few moments. The funny thing was that within about two minutes, the whole store knew we had won something big."

Roll Up the Rim contest rules state that prize winners must be 19 or older. Robert Beaulieu Sr. said he will accept the Toyota Venza, then hand the keys over to his son.

The younger Beaulieu, who is finishing his last year at Sir John Franklin High School, said he hopes to take the vehiclewith him to school this fall, if hegets acceptedto college in Alberta.