National Scavenger Hunt Day
I recently went to Nashville, the new Vegas (Nashvegas), and I quickly learned why it’s a popular destination. It’s a haven for hosting bachelor(ette) parties or celebrating milestone birthdays. Seeing the bride-to-be’s and their entourages reminded me of the days that I too, was one of the girls showing up in a herd contributing to the memories of the last days of freedom for my girlfriend(s). I wondered if any of the bachelors, bachelorettes, 21st, 30th , 40th or 50th birthday celebrants were on a Nashville scavenger hunt? I love scavenger hunts!
National Scavenger Hunt Day is celebrated on May 24th every year. As per usual, I checked my source, Nationaldaycalendar.com for some information about the day. The site shares that the person who introduced the concept of scavenger hunts to the US was Elsa Maxwell. At these high-society parties that Elsa was known for, she needed to entertain her guests and keep them busy which is why scavenger hunts began. Elsa was an American gossip columnist, author, songwriter and professional hostess and her birthday was May 24, 1883. Back up, a professional hostess? I had no idea that career existed - I would love that!
The definition of a scavenger hunt, according to Wikipedia is, : “A scavenger hunt is a party game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items, which the participants seek to gather or complete all items on the list, usually without purchasing them.[1] Usually participants work in small teams, although the rules may allow individuals to participate. The goal is to be the first to complete the list or to complete the most items on that list.
In variations of the game, players take photographs of listed items or be challenged to complete the tasks on the list in the most creative manner. A scavenger hunt is distinguished from a treasure hunt, in that the latter involves one or a few items that are desirable and completed in sequence, while a scavenger hunt primarily collects undesirable or useless objects in random order.[2]
Many types of scavenger hunts exist today and shows like The Amazing Race is an ultimate hunt for everyone around the world to follow along. When I was a kid, a typical list for a scavenger hunt was: 1. a paperclip 2. a rubber band 3. a postage stamp 4. a dime 5. a handkerchief etc. Very basic but we would either form teams or as individuals, we would ring door bells and ask for these items. The order in which we achieved these tasks was not important - the winner was whoever finished getting all the items on the list first. It sounds very basic but I wonder if kids today would know how to knock on doors and get these items - do they even know what a handkerchief is? Lol. A modern list for a scavenger hunt these days may be more like: 1. a Starbucks travel mug, 2. a You Tube link featuring a scavenger hunt, 3. a name of a Netflix original show, 4. a pop socket etc. One task to make it super challenging would be to find a video of an influencer between the ages of 10-25 years old who does not use the word literally more than once in a five minute time period. That would be very hard to check off the list! Nonetheless, creativity and thoughtfulness are behind any successful scavenger hunt.
It wasn’t until one of the brides reminded me, via Facebook, that I was a scavenger hunt leader for many, many bachelorette parties. I had completely forgotten. So in honor of this national day, I went digging thru my files. {Side note: just type in the key word “hoarder “and examples of me holding onto things just like these will appear}. Back in the 1990’s, my friend Eve Gushaw had come to work after the weekend sharing the list that the bride-to-be had to accomplish at the bachelorette party that had she attended. I made a copy of the list (the picture above shows the copy) and I used it for about 8-10 bachelorette parties that I planned. As the years went by, the list for the scavenger hunt evolved - not sure it was for the better, but look at the cut out graphics that I put on Kendie’s. I was fancy!
Well, I am so excited because I have a perfect excuse to use my scavenger hunt skills again!! My cousin Jay-Jay will turn fifty years old on May 23, 2019 which is the day before #nationalscavengerhuntday. What are the chances?! I’m getting a scavenger list set up at this very minute but because I know that she actually reads my blog, I can’t share it with you until Friday. The timing is perfect.
I encourage you to roll up your sleeves, gather a list of fun items or activities and make a scavenger list too. There just has to be someone in your life that would appreciate a thoughtful pinch in the form of a scavenger hunt. You can make the list tiny or crazy huge. Just being thoughtful will make any scavenger hunt successful - so go for it!
Pinches,
Barb
P.S. Stay tuned: I’ll post some photos of Jay-Jay’s 50th birthday scavenger hunt soon!
