Sharpsburg woman wins Landmarks contest

August 30, 2009|By TIFFANY ARNOLD

o Clues and answers from the 13th annual Herald-Mail Landmarks contest

SHARPSBURG -- Nine-year-old Ben Mongan enjoyed looking for the clues at Antietam National Battlefield so much, he asked his mother Kristie Mongan to take him back.

"We got the CD and did the driving tour again the next day," said his mother, Kristie.

In our eyes, all 117 entrants were winners of this year's Landmarks contest, but that would cost the paper $35,100.

So there can only be one.

This year's winner is Sharpsburg resident Janet Williams, who won the first prize, $300.

Of the 117 entries, 73 got all the answers right. The Herald-Mail picked a winner by drawing a contestant's name at random.

Williams was the lucky winner.

For the 116 other contestants who entered but didn't win this year's Landmark's contest the history lesson will have to be enough of a reward.

Clues for this year's contest were set at Antietam National Battlefield, near Sharpsburg.

Antietam National Battlefield is the site of the Battle of Antietam, part of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 during the Civil War. Park officials say more than 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing in the 12 hours of combat, making it the bloodiest, one-day battle in American history.

Kristie Mongan made the drive from Mercersburg, Pa., to Antietam with her 9-year-old niece Leanna Shank, of Williamsport, and Mongan's five kids: Ben; Rachel, 12; Joy, 4; Reese, 4; and Sean, 3.

She said entering the contest seemed like a good idea at the time, in part to nurture her kids' interest in history in a way that would keep their attention spans.

"It will make us look at the whole battlefield and not get bored," Mongan said.

Cindy Easterday, of Chewsville, made two of the three ventures to Antietam that her husband, Dennis Easterday, and family friend, Lloyd Sigler, took in an effort to find all the clues.

Some days they were gone as long as five hours.

Cindy said she helped them find Clara Barton, clue No. 1 in the Herald-Mail contest.

In the end, The Easterdays weren't the winners, but it was worth the hike.

"Oh yes, we had a really good time," Cindy said.