(Scavenger) Hunting season
<p>Scavenger hunt mastermind Joe Johns establishes the ground rules prior to the start of Saturday's event.</p>
<p>Teammates Terra Flink, left, and Kerry Yeager, right, join forces to decipher a clue at the Second Chance Saloon in Ronan.</p>
<p>In order to obtain a new clue, Niki McDonald performs a task at the Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley in Ronan. This challenge required McDonald and her teammates to first find a bowling ball hidden in a locker and then perform a relay by pushing the ball across the floor using only their heads. The ball had screws protruding from its sides, which prevented it from rolling in a straight line.</p>
RONAN — If you were out and about in the Ronan area this past Saturday, there’s a chance you witnessed groups of adults running around and doing peculiar things in public places – like getting on all fours and pushing bowling balls around the ground with only their heads.
Such unusual antics have been taking place once a year since 1997, when local resident Joe Johns teamed up with friend Jim Morgan to plan a valley-wide scavenger hunt for grown-ups that has since blossomed into a legendary annual tradition.
The carefully organized event features a level of complexity that seems to come from the pages of “The Da Vinci Code”, with clever clues hinting at local history and with Johns attempting to thwart participants by enlisting the help of purposely disruptive “henchman” scattered about the course.
Most years, the scavenger hunt is the product of up to six months of meticulous planning. This year, however, Johns had not intended to coordinate the annual event until he was pressured into doing it on short notice, and had just over two weeks to cobble something together.
But all that planning pays off, once the craziness ensues.
“Oh, we’ve had ‘em do all kinds of crazy things over the years,” Johns says proudly, referencing times he has made hunters go down Spring Creek in an inner tube while singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and other interesting challenges from over the years.
“When it’s a full-bore game, they drive at least 150 miles. And some will drive even more,” says Johns, who noted that the hunt can often take over four hours to complete.
This year’s hunt was smaller than usual, but featured six teams of competitors hungry to win.
“It’s great fun,” said Ronan mayor and regular participant Kim Aipperspach, who characterized the event as “an entertaining change of pace.” Given the hunt’s popularity, Aipperspach says that he has even “discussed the possibility” of making it a charitable event in the future.
Niki McDonald, a first-time participant this year, agreed that the challenges are worth the effort – and occasional dose of public humiliation.
“It’s a blast and I hope that we can do it again next year,” said McDonald.
“It was a good weekend with good people.”