FIRST PLACE - $1,000

While working for NBC Sports at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Erin Gossett of Centre took time to pose with The Post at the desk in the studio that overlooks Tiananmen Square and Mao's Mausoleum. Erin outfitted Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and Tom Brokaw during her month-long stay in China.

SECOND PLACE - $350

Centre native Joel Snead asked for a trip to the top of Grand Teton and that's exactly what his girlfriend Jess gave him as a Christmas present. Together, the two spent several days in Wyoming, where they saw buffalo, moose and an arch made of antlers near Jackson Square. They also remembered to pack a copy of The Post for their two-day climb to the top. Read more about Joel's adventures through life at his online blog: www.joelsnead.blogspot.com.

THIRD PLACE - $150

Callie Garrett, 9, and Trace Garrett, 13, traveled with their families to Grand Bahama Island last month and posed with The Post while they swam with the dolphins. The aquatic adventure was Callie's birthday present.

Diane Drake, a frequent visitor to the Spring Garden area of Cherokee County, usually pick up copies of The Post to keep up with local news, and will often pack them for reading while traveling. Recently, she found a copy in her luggage while traveling in Morocco. Above, Diane holds up The Post while resting on the Erg Chebbi dunes near the village of Merzouga, on the western edge of the Sahara desert.

Marine Corps Capt. John F. Allsup, Jr. (holding The Post), a resident of Cherokee County, is our first entry in the 2008 Post Photo Patrol Contest. Allsup is pictured above with a group of Iraqi tribal fighters and their family members near the Euphrates River in a rural area south of Falluja, Iraq (the palm trees is the background lie along the bank of the river). Allsup reports that these tribal fighters were instrumental in helping the marines defeat al Qaeda and other insurgent groups in the area.

Michael And Tiffany Lee, Leesburg, in front of Alltel Arena in Downtown Little Rock, Ark. during a singing trip. Mike is a Southern gospel singer and was performing in Arkansas.

Stanley and Beverly Lee, Leesburg, at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn.

Kailee (5) and Kendall (2) Tucker, Katy, Texas, pose with Winnie the Pooh at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The girls traveled to the resort with their parents and grandmother Mary Lee Tucker, Centre, where they informed Winnie that the poinsettias along Main Street were grown in Cherokee County.

Cedar Bluff First Baptist Church Youth Leader Scott Hays (lying down) and his church youth group recently traveled to Ellijay, Ga. on a fellowship trip.

Joey Weaver, Leesburg, and Stephanie Barnes, Cedar Bluff, with a copy of The Post during the New Year's celebration in downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Calvin Deering (right) and his grandson traveled to Hawaii and had their photo taken with The Post in front of Dog the Bounty Hunter's office on the island of Oahu.

Randy Flippen and Gary Wilson, both of Cedartown, Ga., visited Nagoya Castle in Nagoya, Japan and remembered to pack along a copy of The Post.

Brett Allen, a sophomore at Spring Garden High School, traveled to Europe as a member of the Huntsville Delegation of People to People Ambassadors. Brett visited England, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Here, she poses with a copy of The Post on the streets of London.

Curtis and Mischa Vaughn recently visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was their first vacation off the mainland and their first plane ride.

Ralph and Faye Hilburn (left) and Buddy and Rita Knapp, all of Centre, vacationed at Turtle Bay Resort on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. They also visited Diamond Head, Dole Plantation, Aloha Stadium and Sunset Point Beach.

Ashley Doublet, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., granddaughter of Muffin Caldwell, Leesburg, had her grandma snap this photo of her with The Post while she was in a roller coaster hanging off the edge of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas.

Sharon Guyton, Centre, had this photo taken while she was in Anchorage, Alaska for a Christmas visit with her grandchildren, Danielle and Curtiss. She said the temperature was around 5 below zero this particular morning.

Carol Young Singleton, Centre, spent November traveling Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania and Fiji. Above, she poses with a copy of The Post at Mt. Cook National Park in New Zealand.

Eyvone Turner and Stacy Martin recently traveled to Zambia, Africa on a mission trip.

Morgan Davis, a University of Alabama student from Cedar Bluff, recently traveled to Amman, Jordan with her family. Here, she poses with The Post alongside the Dead Sea, with the West Bank in the background.

Jack and Janice Paulk, Centre, visited the Bahamas and remembered to pack a copy of The Post.

U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Phillip Vargo, Gadsden, who also has family in Leesburg, is in Afghanistan supporting the war on terrorism as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Here, Sgt. Vargo poses with The Post at the post office in Baghram, Afghanistan.

Levi Austin Crabtree, the newborn son of Bubba and Candice Crabtree, Centre, couldn't wait to get here so he could pick up a copy of The Post. Levi was born on Feb. 27.

David, Elizabeth and Ashley Stinson recently visited the office of their U.S. congressman, John Lewis of Georgia. They posed with The Post with the U.S. Capitol in the background.

Harold Laney recently traveled to Nicaragua, and remembered to pack along a copy of The Post. He posed with it in the capital city of Managua.

A group of 8th graders from Centre Middle School, along with their parents and several teachers, recently spent their spring break holiday in California. While there, they traveled to San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Hollywood, Venice Beach and Los Angeles. Above, the students pose with The Post at the Twin Peaks overlook in San Francisco.

Amanda Smeltzer Gibson, daughter of Dr. Clark and Beth Smeltzer, traveled to Japan in April as part of an international exchange program between the University of Tennessee and Hiroshima University. Amanda said her favorite place during the visit was Miyajima, near Hiroshima. While there, she posed with The Post in front of the Itsukushima Shrine.

Dwight and Nancy Andrews flew to Stuttgart, Germany to visit family and for the reenlistment of their son, Staff Sergeant Christopher B.Wiley, in the United States Army. Christopher is the grandson of Hazel Cothran and late Buford Cothran, and is originally from Centre. He attended Cherokee County Elementary and Middle School and graduated from Armuchee, Ga. in 1996.

Joan May (left) and Ginger Cobia recently returned from a 16-day trip to Australia and New Zealand. While there, they visited the Great Barrier Reef, a crocodile farm, and indigenous tribe, the Parliament House, the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Sydney Opera House, and a wildlife park where they were allowed to hold a koala bear. Above, Joan and Ginger pose with the cuddly cutie and a copy of The Post.

Tunie Holder of Summerville, Ga. recently traveled to Ireland and remembered to pack a copy of The Post. While there, she visited the Cliffs of Moher (above) at Blarney Castle -- where she kissed the Blarney stone -- and the Tea House at the Japanese Gardens in Dublin.

Unidentified couple in Santa Cruz, Calif. If this is you please email your name and hometown to info@postpaper.com.

George and Carol Ardeeser, and Ann and Jerry Pate posed with The Post in Alaska in front of the Hubbard glacier on July 1. The four Cherokee County residents cruised Alaska on the Holland America cruise ship Oosterdam with a group of fans of the Scottsboro-based southern gospel group "New Ground."

Russ and Nancy Wood, their children and their children's friends posed with The Post at the Crab Shack on Tybee Island, Ga.

Jack Chapman, NASA employee and brother-in-law of our publisher, recently posed with The Post in front of this giant pile of mashed potatoes. Actually, that's the Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming, which was featured prominently in the 1977 film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." (If you haven't seen the movie, you probably didn't get the mashed potatoes joke.) Nice going, Jack. It's great to see our tax dollars working so hard to bring the space program into the 21st century.

Editor's Note: As a member of the immediate family, Jack is not eligible to win a cash prize in this year's contest. We just thought the picture was cool and wanted to share.

Emily Walker of Centre posed with The Post during a horseback riding vacation to the Buffalo River in Tennessee.

Claire Chesnut, daughter of Danny and Jana Chesnut, recently attended NASA Space Camp in Huntsville and remembered to carry along a copy of The Post.

Collette West, Beth West Leijnse, and Sherrial West are shown with a copy of The Post while shopping for French berets in Rouen, France. Rouen is located in the Normandy region. Beth is a resident of Paris, France, Collette and Sherrial of Centre recently visited her there.

Patsy Richardson, Cedar Bluff, recently traveled to Colorado. Along the way she stopped in Independence, Mo., where she visited President Harry Truman's birthplace. She also remembered to pack along a copy of The Post for a trip to the top of Pike's Peak.

Lauren (left), Michael and Austin Adair, Centre, pose with The Post at the Lone Sailor statue in Great Lakes, Ill. Michael recently graduated from U.S. Navy boot camp and is currently attending aviation electronics school.

Jo Ann Chambers, Centre, recently traveled to Inman, Ga. to a family reunion and remembered to take along a copy of The Post.

Local real estate agent Bill Shepard returned to his hometown of Frostproof, Fla. recently to enjoy a gator-hunting in the Kissimmee River. The rascal on Bill's right was 12 feet long and weighed in at 650 lbs.

Kathy Brown and her mother Cynthia Brown (climbing stairs in distant background) pose with The Post at an unnamed historical monument in Munchen, Germany. Kathy, who is stationed in Germany as a member of the United States Army, is holding a copy from March 2008, when she was featured in a front-page article. The poster that Kathy is standing beside features German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Cherokee County native Bobby H. Anderson and his wife pose on the front porch of their home in Alaska with a copy of The Post. Anderson, who grew up in the Alexis community, spent 21 years in the United States Air Force before retiring in 1979 and moving to Alaska. He still likes to keep up with events in the county, so his relatives here send him a copy of The Post a couple times a month. If you're an old friend of Bobby's you can get in touch with him by writing to 2209 More Street, Anchorage, Alaska 99540.

From left to right are Buddy, Billy, and Mary Hardin with The Post in front of the statue of Romulus and Remus at city hall in Rome, Ga. Buddy and Billy delivered hay bales and mums to decorate the streets of downtown Rome. They run the Coosa Country Store on the Alabama Highway and always have copies of The Post by the cash register.

Laurie Bullard visited Boston with her husband Don in September. Above, she poses with The Post in front of Quincy Market at lunch time.

Denny and Ruth Clements, Centre, recently traveled to the state of Washington. During their stay they took the car ferry to Friday Harbor on the San Juan Islands.

During a visit to Boston with his wife Laurie, Don Bullard posed with The Post at Fenway Park. The left field wall better knows as the Green Monster is visible in the background.

Crystal Wade, Cave Spring, Ga., posed with The Post outside a diner near the U.S. Army base at Fort Benning, Ga., near Columbus. 

"A pair of Jacks and a couple of Posts" read the caption that accompanied this photo. The two golfers above are Jack Walters (right) and his son Jack, Jr. The duo spent six days playing link golf in the Highlands areas of Scotland. Jack Sr. called the trip "a great experience."

Larry and Jane Rice, Cedar Bluff, recently traveled to Alaska to celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary. Their 16-day trip included an eight-day escorted tour of Fairbanks, Denali, Copper River and Kenai Peninsula, followed by a Princess cruise that ended in Vancouver, Canada.

Tyler Woodley, Leesburg, and a copy of The Post made it to the top of Mount Monadnock, near Jaffrey, N.H. It is the second most-climbed mountain in the world. On a clear day you can see all the way to Boston. 

Cedar Bluff resident Gary Crane recently visited Bruges, Belgium with his wife. Bruges is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Gary posed with The Post in Simon Stevin Square, in front of the cyclists at the 't Zand Esplanade.

Lloyd and Jan Boman recently enjoyed a Mediterranean cruise that included a stop in Cozumel, Mexico. The couple were enjoying their 10th anniversary, and remembered to take along a copy of The Post to help celebrating the occasion.

Jacob King, John Randall Foster, Jillian King, Abby King, Jadyn Foster and Ally King, all cousins from Sand Rock, recently traveled to Disney World in Orlando, Fla. That's Cinderella's Castle in the background.

Helen Briggs, Centre, and her friend Peggy Gallant of Dalton, Ga. took part in a 10-day cruise of the Baltic Sea that included stops in Russia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Poland. Here, they practice their photo-taking skills in front of a fountain in Gdansk, Poland.

Mrs. Faye Moon, Centre, posed with The Post in front of her home and the beekeeper who recently removed a five-year-old beehive from an behind an exterior wall of her residence. Mrs. Moon told us the beekeeper captured over 15 lbs. of honeybees and about 55 lbs. of honey.

The Believer’s Fellowship Youth of Centre, along with pastors Keith and Cyndi Day and Sherry Abernathy and Ann Mayhall, went on a mission trip to Tampico, Mexico in June 2008. The picture was taken at a youth crusade that included multiple youth groups from the churches in the area. These youths were eager to have their picture made for The Post!