KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Carol Engelbaum and her family are headed on an all expense-paid trip to Georgia for a NASCAR race, courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe Services’ Extreme Summer program.
But Engelbaum, a civilian who works at Air Forces Europe at Ramstein, credits her two kids for winning one of the Extreme Summer grand prizes.
Her daughter Marissa, 13, and son Christopher, 9, collected 8,000 points by playing golf, taking karate classes and visiting theme parks this summer.
“They’re the ones who are going to get the fame and glory. That’s fine with me,” Engelbaum said Friday.
“We’ll sit back as spectators,” she said of herself and her husband, Mark.
The Engelbaums are among eight grand prize winners in USAFE Services’ Extreme Summer ’04 program.
Winners in the youth and teen categories received all-expense paid trips to Walt Disney World Resorts in Florida for themselves and up to three family members or friends.
Winners will visit all four Disney theme parks, including Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney/MGM Studios, according to a news release.
Adult grand-prize winners in each category received round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, rental cars and VIP tickets to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for a NASCAR race. Winners and one family member will visit the pits, meet drivers, and be treated to VIP seating at a race on the NASCAR Nextel circuit, the release said.
Extreme Summer ’04 kicked off May 10 with an Olympics theme.
It officially ended Aug. 31. The program featured visits from Olympic gold medalists, chances to win tickets to the 2004 games in Athens, Greece, and more than $150,000 in prizes.
Nearly 7,000 people signed up for the program, which provided youths, teens and adults the chance to earn points for participating in summer activities.
The points were then loaded on the Extreme Summer Web site for chances to win prizes.
USAFE Services, along with Stars and Stripes, Speedway Children’s Charities, Exchange New Car Sales, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney World Resorts, Armed Forces Recreation Center, Hockenheimring and Microsoft Xbox helped sponsor the program.
And the winners are…
Youth Category: Conner Murray, RAF Mildenhall, England; and Mark-Anthony Martinez, Lajes Field, Azores.
Teen Category: Christine Guionnaud, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey; and Derek Foster, Lajes Field, Azores.
E1-E5 Category: Traci Keith, Kleine Brogel Air Base, Belgium; and Rachel Whiteneck, Lajes Field, Azores.
E6 and Up: Carol Engelbaum, Ramstein Air Base, Germany; and Dennis Baumgartner, RAF Lakenheath, England.
For a full list of winners and prizes, go to the Extreme Summer Web site at: www.extremesummer.com
—From staff reports
