FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Fans of the canceled TV game show "Supermarket Sweep" might remember contestants dashing through supermarket aisles and unloading shelves into their shopping carts as quickly as possible.
A Fort Riley couple was given the "Supermarket Sweep" experience March 18 at the Fort Riley Commissary as part of its re-opening week celebration.
Staff Sgt. James Holland, Company A, Warrior Transition Battalion; and his wife, Amy, had the commissary to themselves for a 25-minute shopping spree. The couple shared a shopping cart and could grab up to five of each item in the store. Everything they picked out had to fit in the trunk of a 2012 Buick Regal, provided by a local car dealership that served as the events' sponsor.
After a few trips from the aisles to the car, the Hollands were able to cram in $2,293.83 worth of meat, frozen food, beauty products, toiletries and other grocery items just before the time limit.
"It was quite an experience," Amy said. "I didn't realize how fast 25 minutes would go. I always wanted to be on 'Supermarket Sweep,' so it was like I got to live one of my dreams. I never thought in a million years that I'd be doing something like this. I was very ecstatic."
Amy said they didn't spend too much time on their strategy.
"We just knew we wanted meat, and then it kind of just went from there," she said. "We just started grabbing things."
The Hollands filled a good portion of the trunk with meat.
"We're going to have a big barbecue, I think, and invite the neighbors," she said. "We have a freezer. We might have to use the neighbors'."
Dick Young, military liaison for the local car dealership serving as the event sponsor, said the couple's effort exceeded his expectations.
"I was estimating half that, but they shopped well," he said. "The good news is that it went to a Family of four, and they'll be able to enjoy everything they got."
Young said the contest car "rides like a dream."
"And as you can imagine, it has plenty of trunk space," he said.
The Hollands won the opportunity from a drawing offered during the commissary's ribbon-cutting ceremony March 13.
Peter Howell, Fort Riley Commissary manager, said the shopping spree was the main prize of the reopening.
"It was really nice and calm, but it was fun to watch them," he said. "They started out running a little bit fast until they realized 25 minutes was a lot of time, and they clearly knew they could fill that trunk before the 25 minutes up. They found all the high-ring products that's going to last them probably for a couple of years."
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