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Boat regatta closes out summer

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Benjamin W. Stratton
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Service members deployed to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing here celebrated the end of summer during a cardboard boat regatta at the wing's pool with six teams and nearly 100 lively fans Sept. 1.

Patti Gibbs, the 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron's recreation lead, said she works here to hopefully make service members' deployments a "little more enjoyable."

"Seeing the smiles on their faces gives my heart great joy," Gibbs continued, who served in the military herself, along with her father and two sons. "Working over here is my way of just saying, 'Thanks!'"

These regattas started last year and are held periodically, depending on holiday themes. Gibbs said they hope they'll continue on an annual basis.

The winning team is from the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron's passenger terminal. Their team name was "Thee Ocho Pearl."

The astronomical summer for the northern hemisphere officially ends Sept. 21 on what is known as the autumn equinox, or the day the sun's illusionary path in the sky is right over the equator. In the summer hemisphere, it marks the last day of winter and usually falls around this same time every year.