Huffman Wins for U.S. Kids

Jane Lott

Nobody loves NASCAR like TOOTIE HUFFMAN, a Vacaville grandmother and avid fan of DALE JARRETT, who drives number 88, the UPS-sponsored Ford. Which is why it was Tootie who first saw the contest for children ages 5 to 12 to "Design Dale's Ride." She suggested her three grandchildren-ANNABELLE, then 11, Allie, 9, and Ava, 6-enter their artwork in the race car contest sponsored by THE UPS STORE.

"At first, when I heard that, I thought it was a race car driving contest," Annabelle said. "I thought 'How could I do that when I don't have my license?'" But then she sat down with her pencil and Crayola markers. Of the 3,000 entries submitted to the contest, the judges, which included Jarrett, chose Annabelle's design the winner.

The purpose of the coloring contest is to highlight the U.S. MARINE CORPS' TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION, which collects and distributes new toys to needy children during the December holidays. UPS stores nationwide serve as drop-off stations for donations to the program.

Hearing about Toys for Tots from her father, Don, and seeing the Toys for Tots logo with its red toy train triggered Annabelle's creativity. She combined the train with the race car and transformed Dale's ride into a toy-carrying locomotive, complete with smokestack on the hood and diesel exhaust billowing across the driver's side panel. On the back of the car where the lid of the trunk normally rests, Annabelle added a box of toys, then dotted teddy bears, books and dolls along the sides. One of the toys, a jack-in-the-box, appears to be tumbling from the toy box.

"I was thinking about toys falling off the cars," she said. She chose a jack-in-the-box because it is a traditional toy for both boys and girls. The way Annabelle has drawn it, it also best illustrates the feeling of speed.

The errant jack-in-the-box now graces the back of Jarrett's UPS-brown fire suit and the matching jumpsuit presented to Annabelle when she traveled to the Daytona International Speedway in June to unveil Jarrett's car with her design painted on it. The Daytona event also introduced Annabelle to fans outside her family. She stood with Jarrett through TV interviews; she sat on stage before thousands of spectators; she signed autographs. "It's weird," she said of all the attention.

Although she was thrilled at having her design painted on a race car, at the Crayola prize pack she received and shared with her sisters, at the $10,000 in free photocopying her school will receive from The UPS Store, as well as the art supplies from Crayola for the art department, Annabelle said the most exciting consequence of winning the contest was traveling to Daytona with her father and grandmother to meet Dale Jarrett.