LEWISTON – Lois Laliberte is not used to getting strange telephone calls, so she was cautious when she answered the call for husband Paul Thursday morning.

“I just said, Who’s calling, please?'” she said. “We don’t take odd phone calls. You get so many, anymore. You just never know.”

Thursday’s call was worth it, however. Husband Paul learned that he would get to jump to the front of the line Saturday when the Boston Red Sox’ World Series trophy comes to town.

“You should always take a call from the city,” Paul Laliberte said.

City Administrator Jim Bennett said Laliberte’s name was selected at random from a list of 43,881 names. The city combined the lists of registered car owners and registered voters, then had city computers generate a random number.

Laliberte wasn’t the first choice, according to Executive Assistant Dot Perham-Whittier. The first number she called had been disconnected. The second belonged to a New York Yankees fan.

“He was very polite about it, but he said he wasn’t interested and suggested we pick another name, someone who might appreciate it more,” Perham-Whitter said.

Laliberte, who plans to take his 7-year-old grandson, Evan, is plenty appreciative.

“I’ve always been a Red Sox fan, win or lose,” he said. “We go to a couple of games, once or twice a year, when we can afford it.”