May 20, 2002 Winning staffer won a trip to Vegas at breakfast By Jennifer McNulty Janette Crutch, grand prize winner at last year's staff breakfast UCSC staffer Janette Crutch couldn't believe her luck when she got the call after last year's Staff Appreciation Breakfast announcing that she'd won a $500 gift certificate from Westside Travel. "I was in shock when I got the call and they said, 'You won!'" recalled Crutch, who had enjoyed breakfast but headed back to work before the event was over. Crutch coordinates graduate programs for the Psychology Department and has worked on campus for 14 years. At first, she pondered taking a cruise but decided on a five-day trip to Las Vegas over Christmas break. "My husband had lost his mother last fall, and my aunt, who was like a second mom to me, also died, and then we lost a cousin on September 11, and all three funerals were in the same week, so we really needed just to get away," said Crutch. "It was a real vacation for us." Crutch and her husband, Shelton, stayed at the Monte Carlo Hotel, saw a few shows, and had a great time. Shelton even won $500 playing the poker machines. "We had such a good time," said Crutch, adding that she hadn't been to Las Vegas since the famous "Strip" had been spiffed up. "I didn't expect to see so many people at Christmas, but it was crowded with people--people with little children, even." As for the Staff Appreciation Breakfast on Wednesday, May 22 , Crutch has news for the rest of us: "I'm going to win again!" Return to Front Page