After a year off, it is time for Ravenna citizens to go searching for hidden gems. The annual Scavenger Hunt will be making its return to downtown Ravenna on July 19 at 11 a.m.
“I think it is going to take time to build because it is a different concept, so it is basically starting fresh and new,” Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ryann Cline told The Weekly Villager. “It will take time to build but I think it will be good and I think it is something that we can continue to build on.”
On July 19, 15 businesses will be open to take part in the Scavenger Hunt. Participation is free and contestants will enter each store and be handed a clue by the owner.
“You will have a little scavenger hunt and you will go into the 15 different businesses and in each business, they will have a clue card with the chamber’s logo on it as well as the business where it is located,” she said. “What will happen is that you will have a clue card and then you have to find something within their establishment.”
Each participant who finds all 15 items will submit their card of recognition into a raffle, where the Chamber will auction off three gift baskets.
Cline said that all three gift baskets are collections of items donated by the businesses that are opening their doors for a scavenger hunt.
“They are going to be donating a gift card or something that we can put into baskets so realistically the first basket would be valued at probably $150, the second one would be valued at $100 and the third one would be valued at probably $50,” she added.
The Scavenger Hunt returns after a one-year hiatus, after eight-year stretch of it being an annual tradition. According to Cline, the Chamber did not add the Scavenger Hunt to the list of summer festivities last year because some changes were needed.
Cline said that despite having a larger number of businesses take part in the Scavenger Hunt, having 40-50 establishments to search through took a toll on the participants.
She added that another issue was that because there were so many businesses to search, it did not allow participants to spend much time in the actual venue, which led to an active decline of participants each year. The newly designed scavenger hunt will allow participants to spend more time in each store to familiarize themselves with it.
“There are some different clues, but it will actually encourage people to walk around and look and test their brain power to see if they can figure out the clues,” Cline noted. “It is more interactive than just walking around and collecting things.”
Cline said that each of the 15 participating establishments are all Ravenna-based businesses, which makes the event more community-minded.
“That is the whole purpose of it, to have fun and also get people into the front doors of these businesses to help get exposure and help spread the word,” Cline said.
Although there are only 15 businesses that are actively taking part this year, Cline said that the Chamber has received sponsorships from a number of local venues and businesses and is still accepting sponsorships leading up to the event, with the deadline being on July 16.
Cline added that one of the most important aspects of the Scavenger Hunt will be that some of Ravenna’s most faithful citizens will learn about businesses that they were not aware of.
“It was set up for that purpose because there are so many hidden treasures in the community that even a lot of our locals don’t know about. It is to just try and bring awareness, just educate the community about what is in your own backyard,” she said. “There is a lot that is here you don’t know.”
The Scavenger Hunt will also be taking place in conjunction with the Balloon-A-Fair’s local food truck round-up on Prospect Street, and participants will also enjoy entertainment courtesy of Fallon Schwab-Davis aka DJ Krooze.
“We really want to include everybody and anybody. It is just a matter of sharing good stuff about the community and Ravenna as a whole,” Cline said.
