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Essay wins kids playground money Students at Eagle Point's Little Butte School have won $1,000 for new playground equipment in the Matchbox USA Contest. The prize was awarded in a national contest run by the toy car makers. Students won for the quality of a 50-word essay describing why their town should be picked as a Matchbox USA city. Hundreds of entries were received from classrooms around the country, according to the toymaker. Students at Little Butte were among 10 second-place winners. Each school will receive $1,000 for a project of their choice. Projects range from improvements at a history museum in Missouri, to purchase of texts in Connecticut, to contributing to the purchase of a thermal imaging camera to help fire fighters locate victims in burning buildings in Wisconsin. Second place winners also receive a commemorative plaque, and a road sign that reads "Welcome to Matchbox USA." The students responsible for the essay each will receive $100 in Matchbox toys. First prize of $25,000 went to a group of Cleveland, Ohio, first-graders. In addition, the name of their city will be emblazoned on the 1999 Matchbox collection of diecast vehicles -- police car, school bus, ambulance, fire truck and sanitation truck. Matchbox contest organizers say the Cleveland students intend to use their prize money to further their work with local assisted-living programs. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA