Misawa maintainer pockets $1K prize during club drive

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kelly White
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  A staff sergeant from the 35th Maintenance Squadron recently won one of 10 prizes of $1,000, for completing an online survey at collocated club about the programs and benefits of club membership, in the annual Air Force clubs membership drive. 

"I took the survey after applying for a membership here," said Staff Sgt. Donny Ryals, aircraft fuel system craftsman. "It took five or 10 minutes to do."

Sergeant Ryals added that he had been a club member at a previous duty station, but over the course of assignments, discontinued it.

"Now, living here at Misawa, my family and I look forward to enjoying the club again," he said.

Sergeant Ryals said he was on leave when he got the good news about winning the prize.

"I was at home on leave when my shop chief called, asking me to come in for a talk at 7:30 a.m. the next day. My wife and I wondered what I must have done wrong," he said.

"(The next day) my shop chief had me change some paper work, which I wondered why it couldn't have been done when I got off of leave," the sergeant said. "Then, the radio station called, I got the surprise, and looked at my boss and associates and called them 'jerks' - in good fun, of course."

Good fun is also something the Ryals family plans to have with their winnings.

"We bought a new dining room table and saved the rest," Sergeant Ryals said, adding that they're also considering using some of the money for a family ski trip.

Other $1,000 prize winners were:
-- Senior Airman Dale Hegler from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
-- Robert Gitthens from Patrick AFB, Fla.
-- Retired Brig. Gen. Ralph Locurcio from Patrick AFB
-- Christy Traylor from Yokota AB, Japan
-- Capt. Michael Sims from Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
-- Michael Weiner from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
-- Lt. Col. Kevin Kirkpatrick from Beale AFB, Calif.
-- Randy Townsend from Ramstein AB, Germany
-- Maj. Boerre Stige from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio