Freshman wins CSC's 'Hand on the Car' contest
Chadron State College students proved that they have lots of perseverance. Thirty-two of the original 42 participants in the first “Hand on the Car” contest that began at 9 a.m. Friday persevered for 24 hours, meaning that more than half of a deck of cards was drawn to determine the winner of a 1998 Oldsmobile Bravada that was the focal point of the contest.
Sierra Lamb, a freshman from Newell, S.D., is now the proud owner of the vehicle. She drew the ace of spades to claim the top prize. She said she definitely needs a new car, even though her present vehicle is a Cadillac El Dorado. The catch is, it’s a 1991 model with 155,000 miles on it.
Four other prizes also were awarded. Three of the four recipients drew kings during the first go-round, but Brook Worku, a native of Ethiopia, pulled out an ace the second time around to claim the motorized scooter.
The third prize went to Derek Meyers of Curtis, who drew another king the second time. He is now riding a new bicycle.
The fourth place winner was Jamie Ecklund of Albin, Wyo., who pulled out a five on his second draw. He received a $50 gift certificate.
The fifth place winner was Ann Holland of Benkelman, who drew a queen the first time and received a Corvette, but it’s a radio controlled model. Still, she said it was worth standing for the 24 hours with a hand on the car.
The “hand on the Car” contest was set up by CSC officials to give college students a fun, safe activity during the High School Scholastic Contest that was on campus Friday. Six Chadron auto dealers went together to provide the vehicle that was given away. The car, which was selected by a panel of students, has a book value of about $5,000.
Kellee Gooder, an admissions representative, who coordinated the event, said she never anticipated that nearly 80 percent of the participants would survive the ordeal.
“I think this shows that we’ve got a lot of pretty determined students,” Gooder noted.
She said three were disqualified for leaning on the car, one merely walked away and the remaining five never retired from the bathroom breaks that were allowed every three hours.
Lamb said she nearly gave up about 11:30 Friday night. “My legs started cramping up and I about quit. But my friend Heather Moore came along and helped me get through the rough spot. The rest of it was pretty easy.”
The fact that overnight low temperature was 46 degrees undoubtedly was a big help in the survival.
Category: Campus News