TREASURE HUNT 2006
To all who
played: The ThanksUSA team appreciates your participation in ThanksUSA's first
annual American History Treasure Hunt. CONGRATULATIONS to the winners.
We have, when authorized by the winner, included information about their family and their experience in playing ThanksUSA's First Annual American History Treasure Hunt.
We have, when authorized by the winner, included information about their family and their experience in playing ThanksUSA's First Annual American History Treasure Hunt.
Franklin Sherman Elementary School Winners
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Seven Franklin Sherman families received ThanksUSA prizes in December. Presentations were made by school board member Jane Strauss, principal Marty Smith, third-grade teacher Carolyn Ferek, and former students Rachel and Kelsi Okun.
Kelly McMillen assisted by her family, tackled all 12 chapters. As the grand prize winner, Kelly was awarded an iPod Nano. Other winners were Michael and Christopher Haley, Grant Herzberg (not pictured), Paul and Korinne Meeks (parents, not pictured, who helped winners Andrew and Aiden), Andrew and Aiden Meeks, and Maddy Witchey. All of the young people received gift cards from Books a Million. |
Individual Winners
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Jason Ritchie from Washington State is the winner of Chapter 2 (Ohio) and won the Disney World and Universal Themes Park trip to Orlando, Florida.
"Jason is an Information Technology Account Manager; he enjoys playing tennis and golf. His wife of 12 years, Donna, is a stay-at-home mom to their two children, Makayla, 7, and Austin, 5. Donna's mom saw the information about the contest on her local news and let us know. We played the hunt with our extended family and shared answers. We printed the entire game book and, when we had time, we would look through it and put in answers that we knew. Donna spent the time on the internet finding the rest of the answers (since she loves to do puzzles). It was fun to learn facts about the different states -- and a great way to expand our knowledge of the U.S. We love to travel as a family and are looking forward to the trip to Disney World." -- Jason and Donna Ritchie |
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Timothy Castle from Louisiana is the winner of Chapter 3 (District of Columbia) and won a trip to Egypt and the Pyramids
"My wife Sandy and I have been married for 11 years. We have three beautiful girls, Jaime, Elizabeth, and Carolyn. Being a member of the Coast Guard, and a puzzle enthusiast, a news article on ThanksUSA really caught my eye. I was really impressed with the story of Rachel and Kelsi and thought this would be a great thing to do with my girls. Not only did it turn out to be a fun and extremely challenging exercise, it was also very educational! We are very excited to have won the trip to the Pyramids, and are looking forward to next year's challenge!" -- Timothy Castle |
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Bryan Jackson from Texas is the winner of Chapter 4 (Idaho) and won a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle and Two Mountain Bikes
"First of all, we want to say thank you. Not just for the prize but for all the effort, hard work, dedication, and last but certainly not least, the heart you put into this treasure hunt to make it so successful. We are a Navy family of 17 years; we love serving our Country and wouldn't have it any other way. It makes us so proud to see the warm support from Thanks USA. We loved doing the Treasure Hunt. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, we got our neighbors to do it too. We found ourselves dedicating a lot of time to searching for the right answers and it was interesting to see what we already knew. We are looking forward to the next Treasure Hunt. From our hearts to yours, thank you for everything you've done and all the support you've given. In the eyes of this U.S. Navy family, you are the real winners here!!!!" -- Bryan, Mimi, Justin, and Trevor Jackson |
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April Tew Nichols from South Carolina is the winner of Chapter 5 (California) and won a New York City Tour
"My husband (at the time fiancee) decided to participate in the ThanksUSA treasure hunt after seeing Rachel and Kelsi on the Today show one morning. I (being a crossword puzzle junkie) thought what a great cause and a good excuse to spend more time doing puzzles. My husband and I started downloading the clues and got addicted. Each day we would rush home from work and race to the computer to download the new chapter. We would stay up till all hours completing the puzzles. Neither one of us could sleep until the chapter was finished. We had a wonderful time participating and learned a lot of interesting facts about our country. We even learned some new things about South Carolina where both of us have lived most all our lives. It was a wonderful test of patience for both of us. We even argued a few times about some of the answers and would get mad at each other if one of us started without the other. We enjoyed the game immensely. Thanks to Rachel and Kelsi for their love for their country and appreciation for our troops. Thanks for the lesson in patience also." -- April T. Nichols |
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Stephanie Hamilton from Utah is the winner of Chapter 6 (South Carolina) and won the 2007 Daytona 500 Trip
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Duane from North Carolina was randomly drawn as the winner of Chapter 7 (Hawaii) and the Pearl Necklace and Earrings
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Sherry Koch from Virginia is the winner of Chapter 8 (Florida) and won the Family Trip to Las Vegas plus a Family Home Entertainment Center
"Sherry and Carl Koch presently live in Virginia with their two daughters, Charlotte and Megan. Carl has served in the military for ten years and Sherry volunteers at the local elementary school. We learned about the ThanksUSA Treasure Hunt through Military.com and thought the Hunt would be a great, challenging tool to teach the kids about American History. It was more so a lesson for ourselves and much more fun than we had anticipated. We had so much fun working on it together that we ended up completing the Hunt the same day. We have eagerly been spreading the word about ThanksUSA's scholarships and are looking forward to next year's Hunt. Thank you to everyone at ThanksUSA!" -- Carl and Sherry Koch |
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Laura Bruck from Alaska is the winner of Chapter 9 (Alaska) and won the Tour of Chicago plus a Fabulous Big-Screen Home Theater System
"I am a stay-at-home mom with a two-year-old son named Tae. Thadd and I have been married for 11 years, and we live in the great state of Alaska. For us, playing ThanksUSA was never about winning. It was about the adventure and the thrill of doing the puzzles. I would get excited and tell people I knew, and they would start playing. Winning Chapter 9 was a bonus because I only did it just to have a little fun, never expecting that I would win. My family definitely had a great time completing the hunt and can't wait to see what's in store for next year." -- Laura Bruck |
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Pamela Cherry from Texas is the winner of Chapter 10 (Pennsylvania) and won the 2007 Super Bowl Trip
"I am married with three children. My oldest daughter, Morgan, helped in solving the various chapters in the contest. It took us about two months to complete the chapters and we had an awesome experience, sharing a lot of fun time together. Morgan and I are so pleased that we have won Chapter 10 and are looking forward to a girls' weekend in Miami!!!" -- Pam Cherry |
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Michael Hendrix from Kansas is the winner of Chapter 11 (Kansas) and won the Disneyland and Universal Studios, Hollywood, California Trip plus a Gibson Epiphone Les Paul Electric Guitar
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Valerie from Connecticut is the winner of Chapter 12 (New York) and won the tour of London, England
"Peter and I have been married nearly 17 years. We have two beautiful daughters, Erica and Alexa. I work in the Fiduciary Department of a Human Services Organization. I first heard about the Treasure Hunt game from my friend Karen, with whom I work. Since I love puzzles and games, I checked to see what it was all about. I thought that it would be a good thing for my daughters and me to do over the summer. But the first chapter was very challenging and I almost gave up. A couple weeks later, I looked at the second chapter. Karen and I both worked independently on our puzzles, and then, a week before the answers were due, we compared our answers. We ended up having the same difficulties in the same areas of the puzzle. We worked on the final answers together to solve the puzzle -- and ended up having 100% correct answers. That alone was like winning. I greatly enjoyed the challenge of solving the various pieces to the puzzle, learned a lot of interesting facts about the USA, and look forward to doing it again. We are very excited about our trip to London." -- Valerie Giannelli |
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Tom Thompson from New York is the winner of the Grand Prize Capital Tour plus the Grand Prize Treasure Chest filled with jewels, gems and rare coins.
"I work in financial services. My wife and I have one daughter, 14. I actually found the game looking for a treasure-hunt activity for her and one of her friends. With my own interest in puzzles, American history and geography, I thought it would be interesting. But the first chapter was pretty hard; it looked too tough for the kids and I pretty much gave up on the idea of doing it. For some reason, I went back the next day, started with the second chapter, got hooked, and went through all the rest. I really enjoyed the game and am looking forward to the next one." -- Tom Thompson |
