What would you do if you went to work every day in the Oval Office?
Boxford residents were invited to put themselves in the shoes of the commander in chief this spring, in the Friends of Boxford Libraries' third annual essay contest.
The Friends received between 60 and 70 essays on the topic "If I Were President ..." said Martha Roberts, president.
"I'm always so pleasantly surprised that we get such a nice number of entries. Every year people get more and more enthusiastic," Roberts said. "The entries are always so different."
The essays were judged by a committee of local writers: Kathleen Benner Duble, Martha Clark and Linda Greenstein. The winners were picked based on their essays' originality, creativity, writing style and structure, and relevance to the topic. Each winner received a $50 gift certificate to Borders Books and Music.
Winners were selected in three age categories.
"We did not have any entries in the 14 to 17 age group, so the judges decided to award two awards in our age 8 and under category, one for writing and one for creativity," said Roberts.
Town Crossings sat down with each of the four winners, to find out what inspires them.
Jean Gottschalk, retired, winner in adult category
If Jean Gottschalk were president, government would feature less red tape, the ability to "act beyond party lines" and presidential campaigns would be much, much shorter.
The way things are now, "I do not understand why anyone would want to be president," Gottschalk wrote in her essay.
Gottschalk is a retiree who recently moved from Beverly to Boxford to live with the family of her daughter, Janet Merriman.
Gottschalk never expected to win the essay contest and when she received the call telling her she had won, "I laughed," she said.
"I have always written through most of my life," she said. "Writing is expression for me, but also my recreation. I just enjoy doing it. I love words, always have, and enjoy reading."
Gottschalk wrote her essay as part of the writer's group led by Edith Fenton that meets at the Boxford senior center. She describes herself as "not really political."
"It was very hard to write, because it's an uncomfortable subject," said Gottschalk, whose only involvement in politics was volunteering on a local mayoral campaign once.
She gets "disgusted" with politicians sometimes, she said. "You hear all the promises and then nothing happens, so I guess I'm just disillusioned with what's going on," she said. "They don't carry through. They're not able to, the way things run now. Things are so entrenched."
Gottschalk believes presidents should have creativity and follow-through. She suggests presidents should rely on advisers who really know what they're talking about, from both political parties. Nurses and doctors would serve on a health care committee, teachers and administrators on an education committee, and so on.
The U.S. should take an idea from Great Britain, where campaigns for prime minister are limited to several months, she said.
Gottschalk is a Louisiana native, and met her husband in the Navy, where she dealt with service records.
Besides being a stay-at-home mother to four children, she has been a school teacher, and worked part time at her church and in a library's children's room.
She writes a column for her church newsletter and said she's settling in well to her new hometown of Boxford.
Emily Quenzel, 11, winner of the 9 to 13 age category
Emily Quenzel's "If I Were President" essay was inspired by a recent trip to Washington, D.C. While traveling with her immediate family and cousins in an RV, Emily took notes on her older brother Jeffrey's laptop and came back with lots of ideas.
Emily, who just finished fifth grade at Spofford Pond School, said her spring trip was the first time she'd visited the capital.
"I liked going to the memorials and seeing the big statues ... it was really big. There are lots of things to do there, and lots of people," she said.
Emily visited several of the Smithsonian museums, but didn't have time to tour the White House.
In her essay, Emily wrote of having more parks, "for kids and adults to enjoy the green grass, and not just cement sidewalks" and of using her powers to "make it so everyone had a car that runs on batteries to save the environment."
"Cars that run on batteries could save the environment," Emily explained. "It would help plants grow if exhaust is not going in the air, which would help the air we breathe."
A self-described environmentalist, Emily also wrote "If I were president, I would donate lots of money to the zoos because some animals that only live in other countries people might never see, and I think animals are cool, so everyone should be able to see animals from all over the world. The zoos would also protect animals that are endangered."
After seeing some of the homeless in Washington, D.C., Emily wrote that she would set up "a big hotel for poor people to stay in that is free" until they could find a job and earn enough money to find a new home.
Emily is the youngest child of Keith and Judy Quenzel. Besides writing, Emily plays the piano and clarinet, and loves soccer, softball and the beach. Her family has a beach house on Cape Cod, and she likes riding in their motorboat, she said.
Emily's favorite subject is math, but she enjoys writing.
"I like writing stories about places," she said. "Especially places I've been during the summer."
She was excited to win, and will use her gift certificate prize to buy books to read over the summer.
Tommy Eckert, 7, winner of age 8 and younger category
If 7-year old Tommy Eckert were president, he would build a robot to help people do their chores. But the robot would be only for people who can't do their chores, or who do their chores slowly.
"People who do their chores fast don't need help," he wrote.
Tommy's essay offered ideas such as thank-you letters for those who follow laws "most of the time," and money for the poor "because presidents have a lot of money."
"If I were president, I would try to be a better president every day until it's someone else's turn," he wrote.
Besides being a benevolent character, the president should have a worry box, an idea Tommy, a first-grader at Cole Elementary, learned from Cole Principal Kathryn Nikas, he said.
Nikas has a worry box at her house, where you write a concern on a piece of paper and slip it in the box.
"You put your worries in, and you can't think about it anymore once you write it down, which takes away your worries," he explained.
Through writing his essay, which he said took about three days, Tommy learned "presidents have to do a lot of work."
Tommy is the son of Christina and Marcus Eckert. His favorite subject in school is reading, and his favorite books are the "Magic Tree House" series by Mary Pope Osborne, especially "Monday with a Mad Genius." He especially likes scary and mystery books, he said.
Besides reading, he likes baseball and "playing catch with my dad."
William Roberts, 6, winner of age 8 and younger category
Things at the White House might be a lot more fun if William Roberts were president.
William would have bunk beds in the presidential bedroom and would "play football with my son in the backyard (of the White House) even though I have to do paperwork," he wrote.
"I'd get two goalposts so we could play football because I am the leader of the country," he said. "I would invite the prime minister from England to play tennis. After tennis we would discuss about breaking up the war (in Iraq). We would tell the soldiers to come home and relax."
William, who just finished first grade, included a drawing of Uncle Sam kicking a soccer ball with his essay.
He wrote it "all at once" in an afternoon, and said "it was fun writing it. You just got to make up all these things that you would do when you were president."
Besides playing sports, the president should place importance on family and ending the war in Iraq, said William. "They've been fighting for a long time," he said.
William likes bunk beds — "it's cool being up high in them" — but doesn't have one at home, he said. If he were president, that would change.
"I'll be president for four years," he wrote of buying a bunk bed. "My son and I could sleep in it. For four years we could sleep in it."
He will spend his $50 prize on books and CDs, including an album of the Jonas Brothers, he said.
William, the son of Martha and Brad Roberts, loves playing sports, especially baseball, soccer and street hockey, and plays football with his dad at home.
A recent highlight was attending a Red Sox game with his father and cousin on June 22, when Kevin Youkilis won the game with two home runs — one hit over the Green Monster in the 13th inning.
