Dreams Do Come True for Essay Contest Winners

For Thanksgiving, 9-year-old Max Murialdo wished he could travel the world. “I might sail the Indian Ocean, and float the Nile long, and row the English Channel, then fly to Hong Kong,” he wrote in an essay describing his Thanksgiving wish.

Thanks to that winning essay describing his hopes in vivid detail, Max’s wish will be granted, sort of. Mimi’s Cafe, which sponsored an essay contest in schools throughout Southern California, is sending the Westminster fourth-grader and his family to Disney World’s Epcot Center in Florida, where he will be able to experience all of the world’s cultures at once. As the grand-prize winner, Murialdo also receives a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond to be put toward his college education.

The Write Stuff contest, according to a spokesman for the restaurant chain, is designed to encourage reading and writing in schools. More than 3,500 grade school students from California and Arizona entered the contest, and 15 semifinalists were honored Wednesday by being asked to read their essays out loud.

The second- and third-place winners were also surprised Wednesday at the Costa Mesa Mimi’s by having their wishes granted, and receiving $250 bonds. Allison Jones of Upland giggled and nearly cried when she saw the squirming 8-week-old golden retriever puppy presented to her, fulfilling her wish for a dog to replace one that died this year.

“It’s amazing!” gushed the 10-year-old. “I’ve been asking for this for about a year.”

And 7-year-old James Parsons’ eyes lit up when he saw the parakeet he wished for in his essay, in which the Laguna Niguel youngster wrote: “I want a bird so bad, that it’s all I can think about.”